Amber Beat: Global Student Accommodation Market News - February 2025, Week 01

About Amber Beat

Missed keeping track of all the latest happenings in the student accommodation market?

Amber Beat is a weekly snapshot of the key developments in top student accommodation markets.  This newsletter provides you with all the information you need to know, from new upcoming projects to current trends, news affecting students to government policies, we’ve got you covered!

Amber Beat | News from January 28-February 06, 2025

United Kingdom

• Lomond expands with Uni2 Rent acquisition, adding 1,000 student rooms to its portfolio (Source)
• Urbanest Battersea Certified as UK’s Largest Passivhaus Building with 853 Student Beds (Source)
• Alchemy RE enters PBSA market with 850-bed Brent Cross Scheme, launches with £1bn development pipeline (Source)
• Unite Students and MMU plan 2,330-bed Manchester PBSA with 30-storey tower, set for 2029 completion (Source)
• 800-bed student accommodation scheme in Belfast approved on appeal, set to become one of city's largest developments (Source)

• BNP Paribas launches £50M PBSA development in Birmingham’s Chinese Quarter, featuring 301 units across 15 floors (Source)
• Caledonian Trust markets 361-bed PBSA development in Edinburgh with 277 studios and 84 cluster units (Source)
• A £17.7M Clyde Court completed in Merchant City with 169 studio en-suite rooms for Glasgow students (Source)

United States of America

• University of Utah and ACC break ground on $155M, 1,400-bed student housing project in Salt Lake City, set to open in fall 2026 (Source)
• First Citizens Bank provides $47.7M financing for Aspen College Park, a 432-bed, 129-unit student housing project near the University of Maryland (Source)
• BDC Holdings acquires 998-bed Block 20 Buffalo and The Hill at Rochester for $90M, expanding student housing near University at Buffalo and Rochester Institute of Technology (Source)
• QuadReal provides construction loan for 1,000-bed Hub Packard student housing development near University of Michigan, set to open in June 2027 (Source)
• QIP and Melrose Ascension Capital launch leasing for 132-unit, 358-bed Straits Row in Chicago’s South Loop (Source)
• LV Collective and Culpepper Realty to develop Legacy Point, a luxury student housing project with over 300 units in College Station, set to open in Fall 2027 (Source)
• Deven Group plans $1B student housing expansion, with $300M projects starting in 2025 near University of Mississippi, University of Virginia, and University of Central Florida (Source)
• Oklahoma State University reallocates on-campus housing to accommodate record undergraduate enrollment, and plans off-campus leasing options (Source)

Australia

• Australia unveils two-tier visa policy to curb student arrivals amid 25% drop in visa numbers; new system to pioritize 80% quota (Source)
• ANU study finds Australians want lower migration but oppose cuts to international students; 50% say migration is too high (Source)

Canada

• Canada’s cap on international students triggers college closures, mass layoffs, and uncertainty for 200,000 graduates facing expired work permits (Source)
• Over 55% of international students in Canada face housing struggles amid policy shifts and rising costs (Source)
• North Island College and Vancouver Island University to add new student housing with over 266 beds by 2027 (Source)

Europe

• Spain ranks in global top 10 for PBSA with 97% occupancy and 5% rent increase; Madrid and Barcelona lead with 21,000 beds for 76,000 international students (Source)
• Entrecampos invests €6.7 million in Zaragoza, Spain for student residence conversion; secures €2.95 million loan (Source)
• Europe faces student housing crisis with 3 million-bed shortage and 10% growth in student population by 2030 (Source)
• Dundee 1881 plans 361-bed PBSA development at Keiller Quarter to address city’s 6,084-bed shortfall (Source)