Amber Beat: Global Student Accommodation Market News - March 2025, Week 03

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 March 14-March 20, 2025

United Kingdom

• iQ student accommodation tops out the 28-storey Echo Street PBSA in Manchester, offering 1,224 beds across 3 buildings (Source)
• Blacksburg Town Council approves 8-story, 759-bedroom student housing project near Virginia Tech (Source)
• Empiric reports 9.3% rental growth and expands portfolio with £56.1M equity raise and new acquisitions in Bristol, Glasgow, and Manchester (Source)
• Study Inn Group secures £153M refinancing, consolidating PBSA assets across 6 cities and expanding portfolio to 2,000 rooms (Source)
• Unite Students completes £40M refurbishment of 358-bed Rushford Court PBSA in Durham, Adds New Facilities and Solar Panels (Source)
• CBRE lists Yugo’s 335-bed Berkeley street PBSA in Melbourne for sale with 97% occupancy rate (Source)
• BGO Strategic Capital Partners and Orka Investments launch £100M+ UK PBSA platform with 568-bed assets in Manchester and Derby (Source)
• True Student to complete 494-bed accommodation in Sheffield this year, featuring a 28-storey building and premium amenities (Source)
• Stelling Properties launches £20M modular student accommodation scheme in Southampton with over 100 studios, targeting net zero (Source)
• Wolverhampton University plans to house 20,000 students in City Centre, including 5,000 in halls of residence (Source)
• Stelling Properties announces £20M PBSA development in Southampton with 257 modular studios, set to open in 2026 (Source)
• Glasgow office block to be transformed into 99-bedroom student accommodation, featuring 72 studios and two-storey rooftop extension (Source)

United States of America

• US reclassifies H-1B rules as foreign affairs, bypassing public input and creating uncertainty for visa holders (Source)
• US considers banning travel from 43 countries, including Russia, under new national security policy (Source)
• US lawmakers introduce bill to ban student visas for Chinese nationals, sparking debate over national security and economic impact (Source)
• Harvard to offer free tuition from 2025-26 for families earning under $200K, expanding aid to 86% of U.S. students in Cambridge (Source)
• Bunker Hill Community College suspends study abroad programs over immigration concerns, shifts focus to domestic destinations (Source)
• Trump’s visa crackdown, research cuts threaten U.S. international student enrollment recovery (Source)
• Subtext, Larson Capital to develop $1.6B, 1,738-bed EVER and VERVE student housing near Texas A&M, first phase set for summer 2027 (Source)
• JBM brokers $72.35M sale of 800-bed Coastal Village student housing near FGCU in Fort Myers (Source)
• Foothill-De Anza Community College District invests $66.7M to convert 94-unit McClellan Terrace Apartments into 332-bed affordable student housing in Cupertino (Source)
• Muinzer completes recapitalization of 1,356-bed Heights of Knoxville, University Park near University of Tennessee (Source)
• 4Terra and SRM to redevelop 2100 Milvia St. into 201-unit apartment building near UC Berkeley, leveraging SB 330 for streamlined approval (Source)
• Blacksburg approves 759-bed, 8-story student housing on North Main Street by LV Collective, advancing Virginia Tech redevelopment plan (Source)
• UC Berkeley plans $443.5M, 1,625-bed Bancroft-Fulton Student Housing at 2200 Bancroft Way, with construction set to start in 2026 (Source)

Australia

• Over 15,300 international students withdrew Australian visa applications in 2024, while February 2025 saw a record 201,490 arrivals (Source)
• Australia’s student housing pipeline reaches 35,605 beds with private sector expansion; major projects from Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney add 5,605 beds since last year (Source)
• Despite a record surge in international student arrivals in February 2025, over 15,300 international students withdrew Australian visa applications last year due to long processing times (Source)
• CBRE plans to sell an accommodation scheme to house 255 students located at Yugo Berkeley Street in Melbourne, with over 97% leased currently (Source)
• VOS Construction's $7 million transformation of the existing building into 25 modern studio rooms at TasTAFE’s Burnie campus in Tasmania set to begin, with completion expected by year-end (Source)

Canada

• Canada removes field-of-study restriction for post-graduation work permits, expanding job opportunities for international students (Source)
• Canada invests $17.1M in water infrastructure to enable 600-unit Tartan Downs housing development in Sydney, Nova Scotia (Source)
• Concordia University of Edmonton allocates three-quarters of $11.9M for 200-bed residence at 73rd St & 112th Ave, opening winter 2027 (Source)
• Developer seeks final approval for $11-storey, 1,149-bed student housing at 716 Gordon St, Guelph, first proposed in 2011 (Source)

Europe

• Germany secures €15.5 billion boost as 65% of international students plan to stay post-graduation, delivering 8x return on investment (Source)
• AXA expands European PBSA strategy to €1.3bn with €660m in new Capital, targets €3bn portfolio by 2031(Source)
• Amro Salamanca achieves 89.7% BREEAM outstanding rating, becomes first PBSA in Spain to earn top sustainability standard (Source)
• Francisco Nieva University residence to reopen in 2025, adding 211 student places and boosting Ciudad Real's Housing market by 50% (Source)
• AMW Skyscraper opens with 12 floors, 200 student accommodations, conference rooms, and €114M investment in Poland (Source)
• Rennes' Saint-Hélier student residence to undergo €6.5M revamp in France, adding 98 modern rooms and new garden by 2025 (Source)
• Bouygues Bâtiment Sud-Est to build 76-unit student residence in France for Trotabas Campus, opening in 2026 (Source)
• 53 new affordable student apartments under construction on Aachener Strabe 443 in Cologne, Germany (Source)