Amber Beat: Global Student Accommodation Market News - July 2025, Week 04

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 July 18 - July 24, 2025

United Kingdom

• StudentCrowd report reveals 7.5% annual PBSA rent rise since 2021, alongside 15% increase in incentives and 58,000 new beds added (Source)
• loc8me completes 7,500 student room changeovers across 1,200+ properties as rental demand surges UK-wide (Source)
• Nottingham to add over 2,500 student beds despite record PBSA vacancies and cooling demand, with major schemes at Alfreton Road, Bendigo Building, and Island Quarter (Source)
• Aitch advances 437-bed St James PBSA in Walthamstow for YourTRIBE, with 35% affordable units and £114M funding secured (Source)
• Helical progresses 429-bed PBSA at Southwark in joint venture with Places for London, targeting 2028 completion (Source)
• HG Construction completes 350-bed Sheares Hall PBSA in Newcastle ahead of schedule for 2025/26 academic year (Source)
• Integritas completes 273-bed Deakin’s Yard PBSA in Newcastle-under-Lyme, fully let for 2025/26 (Source)
• ISH and HG Living’s first new PBSA to deliver 185 student beds in Vauxhall as Kennington Lane scheme progresses (Source)
• Glasgow to add 140 new student rooms as St Vincent Street office transforms by 2026/27 (Source)
• Urbium and Gregory Property’s 133-bed Foss Islands Road PBSA in York advances with completion set for June 2026 (Source)

United States of America

• F-1 visa issuances drop 22% in May 2025, with 12,689 fewer approvals year-over-year; U.S. universities brace for $3B revenue loss amid projected international student decline (Source)
• U.S. introduces $250 visa integrity fee for nonimmigrant visitors under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with reimbursement possible post-visa expiration (Source)
• US universities see 70–80% drop in Indian student arrivals amid visa delays and high rejection rates, threatening Fall 2025 intake (Source)
• OPT program, vital to attracting international students and supporting U.S. companies, faces termination threats amid new legislation and criticism over oversight (Source)
• Trump administration revives H-1B visa overhaul, proposes salary-weighted lottery ahead of FY 2027 cap, raising concerns for international students and early-career talent (Source)
• M&T Bank records up to $16M loss on university student housing loan for international students as U.S. sees 12,700 drop in F-1 visas in May (Source)
• University of Tennessee opens two new dorms housing 1,883 students, retires two aging halls as part of $311M housing expansion in Knoxville; Torchbearer Hall with 1,028 beds to open in 2026 (Source)
• USC opens $170M Gateway 737 with 940 beds and 311 units in Columbia; students move in ahead of Aug. 19 classes (Source)
• Deven Group breaks ground on $94.9M, 631-bed student housing project with 177 units near UCF campus in Orlando (Source)
• CRG, Shapack Partners break ground on 19-story Chapter Ann Arbor with 625 beds across 183 units near University of Michigan, set to open Fall 2027 (Source)
• Morgan Stanley, Scion invest $262M in 2,000-bed, 600-unit Oxford student housing portfolio near Ole Miss; College Town Oxford closed, rest by Q3 2025 (Source)
• Skanska tops out $311M Living and Learning Center at Simmons University in Boston, with housing for 1,100 students, project began in May 2023 and completes Jan 2027 (Source)
• FAMU to open $97.5M, 700-bed Venom Landing residence hall in August 2025, located at Osceola Street and MLK Jr. Boulevard in Tallahassee (Source)
• Metro State University to build $115M, 550-bed Summit House on Auraria Parkway in Denver; construction starts August 2025, opening slated for Fall 2027 (Source)
• Timberline Real Estate Ventures acquires $82M Park Place with 280 units near LSU, completed in 2017 on East Boyd Drive (Source)
• Jackson Dearborn acquires 447-bed, 155-unit The Flats at ISU in Normal, Illinois—built between 2011–2014—amid record enrollment at Illinois State University (Source)
• University of Michigan to lease 313-unit Cass Avenue tower for student housing near $250M Center for Innovation, with construction set to finish in Fall 2028 (Source)
• M&T RCC provides $21M bridge loan for 110-unit The Lanes at Union Market, a 2022-built student housing property in Washington, D.C. (Source)

Australia

• Epiisod launches $130 million luxury student housing in Sydney with 732 beds; completion to be expected by end‑2025. (Source)
• Stability returns to Australia’s student accommodation sector with $1.8 billion investment and 36,424 beds in pipeline, reports Property Council (Source)
• Australia’s PBSA sector heats up with $1 billion UniLodge sale, 2,700+ beds under construction, and $150 million new development (Source)

Canada

• Canada sells Rimouski Armoury to developer for 24 new student housing units, part of 90 federal properties in Public Land Bank to tackle housing crisis (Source)
• Canada to raise study permit fund requirement to $22,895 from Sept 2025, up $2,260 for single applicants (Source)
• Canada opens consultations for 2026-2028 immigration levels plan aiming to reduce non-permanent residents below 5% by 2027, targets 380,000 permanent and 516,600 temporary residents in 2026 (Source)

Europe

• Macquarie acquires MILESTONE and BaseStack Living to form pan-European PBSA platform with 12,000 beds across 8 countries (Source)
• Ardian and Rockfield acquire 1,209-bed Nido PBSA portfolio in Netherlands, pushing total deployed capital past €600M across Europe (Source)
• Poland student numbers rise to 1.28 million in 2024, intensifying pressure on private student housing market (Source)
• Galway pub to be replaced by 17-bed, four-storey student housing block with retail and rooftop terrace (Source)