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

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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 November 01-November 07, 2025

United Kingdom

• CAS issuances across UK universities up 8% for September 2025 intake, with acceptances and deposits up 18.2%, growth led by West Africa (70.03%), North America (11.82%), East Africa (7.74%), and South Asia (2.54%), Enroly reports (Source)
• UK doubles HPI visa list from 42 to 80 universities, expanding eligibility for Europe and Australia graduates as intake target rises from 2,000 to 4,000 next year (Source)
• UK to ease visa rules from Nov 2025, international grads can switch directly from Student to Innovator Founder visa, no £50K needed, HPI list doubles, with 8,000 annual cap (Source)
• British Council’s 2025–27 strategy targets UK TNE growth, building on 650,000 overseas students in 2023/24, up 7.8% YoY and averaging nearly 10% annual growth (Source)
• CBRE PBSA Index reports 3.4% total returns supported by 5.4% income despite a 2.0% fall in capital values, super prime assets rise 2.8% while London drops 0.8% and prime regional markets fall 3.8% YoY (Source)
• UK could lose billions from Labour’s immigration reforms, stricter graduate visa rules may deter 11,000–15,000 students annually, Home Office assessment shows (Source)
• Empiric Student Property reports 89% occupancy for FY2025/26 (vs 95% YoY) and 4.5% rental growth, with UK students now 43% of tenants, Chinese share down to 30% (Source)
• Valpre Capital and Katch Investment Group form £500M JV to deliver up to 1,500 PBSA beds across key UK cities, including London and Bristol, first 244-bed project underway in London (Source)
• University of Sheffield to offer £7,500 scholarships for international undergraduates starting September 2026 for most full-time courses except Medicine and Dentistry (Source)
• Partners Group & Host Student Housing secure £100M+ refinancing with Cerberus to support UK living sector growth, covering 888 beds across 4 PBSA/co-living assets (Source)
• Fusion Group and Tri7’s 515-bed PBSA scheme at Portswood Centre, Southampton, recommended for approval, aims to ease HMO pressure (Source)
• Tribell acquires 86-bed Briggate Studios in Leeds for GoBritanya, expanding its UK PBSA portfolio with premium studios near major universities, including the University of Leeds (Source)
• Beachrock lists two London PBSA assets for £65M (438 beds); 44% rent guaranteed by University of the Arts London, average weekly rent £228 (Source)
• GMI Construction begins work on Alumno and Invesco’s £29M, 261-bed student scheme near Whitworth Park, Manchester, completion targeted ahead of AY 2027 intake (Source)

United States of America

• US News & World Report 2026 Best Colleges rankings place Princeton at #1, followed by MIT, Harvard, Stanford, and Yale (Source)
• University of Tennessee at Knoxville reports 40,421 students in Fall 2025, with international enrolment up despite Trump-era visa rules and $100,000 H1-B fee (Source)
• US to revise Public Service Loan Forgiveness criteria from July 2026, nonprofits aiding immigration law violations to be barred, per Education Dept–CRS data (Source)
• China-to-US student surge boosts STEM programs and local economies, every 100 Chinese students generate ~1 new STEM master’s program, National Bureau of Economic Research study shows (Source)
• Columbia University braces for early dip in international applications amid stricter US visa rules, with overseas students comprising 39% of 2024 enrolment and contributing 13% to its budget (Source)
• Sacramento State to require freshmen to live on campus for first two years starting Fall 2026, with exemptions including local, independent, and special-circumstance students (Source)
• Core Spaces to redevelop Vintage Athens Hotel site into $150M student housing near the University of Georgia, accommodating over 1,200 students and investing $10M+ in community upgrades (Source)
• US developer Landmark Properties plans 500-bed student housing in Birmingham, part of UK pipeline of 3,000 beds amid 31,000-bed city shortfall (Source)
• HH Group acquires 207-bed College and Crown in New Haven for $57.5M via HH Fund, marking its Northeast expansion, deal backed by $37.4M Walker & Dunlop loan (Source)

Australia

• Australia caps new international student enrolments at 270K for 2025, raising visa fee to AUD 1,600, to ease migration and housing pressure (Source)
• Offshore student applications in Australia rebound to 19,795 in September 2025 versus 14,963 in September 2024 despite mid-2023 policy tightening (Source)
• Applications open for Semester 1 at Australian universities; Indian students face STEM tuition AUD 20K–50K (Source)
• Australia to fund 9,500 more undergraduate places and invest A$66.9M in study-hubs for 2026 (Source)
• International student inflows to OECD countries fell 13% to 1.8 million in 2024; Australia down 22%, while Canada down 39% (Source)
• Wee Hur to divest Adelaide PBSA asset: 708 beds at 188 Grenfell Street sold for S$14.2M, firm keeps 20% indirect stake (Source)
• Australia extends post-study work rights under Australia‑India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA) for Indian graduates: up to 3 years (Bachelor STEM) and 4 years (PhD) (Source)
• Australia launches national peak body, the International Students Representative Council of Australia, to represent and advocate for international students (Source)
• Australian AI verification tool launched to detect fraudulent international student applications and bolster admissions integrity (Source)
• Australia’s “Education Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025” clears House second reading, aiming to tighten student-agent regulation and offshore education oversight (Source)
• University of Newcastle proposes 450-bed, 8-storey green-rated student housing at Callaghan Campus, advancing its on-campus living and sustainability goals (Source)

Canada

• Canada launches fast-track H-1B visa pathway to attract global talent, backed by CA$1.7B initiative targeting over 1,000 international researchers (Source)
• Canada’s immigration overhaul sees 74% of Indian student visas rejected in August 2025, compared to 32% in August 2023 (Source)
• Canada will exempt international graduate students at public institutions from federal study-permit caps starting January 2026 (Source)
• Canada allocates $1.2M to student grants and loans for 2025-26, targets public and not-for-profit universities (Source)
• Canada introduces incentives for international master’s and PhD students: graduate enrolments at public universities will be exempt from caps from Jan 2026 and doctoral study-permit processing will be expedited to 14 days (Source)
• Canada’s 2026–2028 immigration plan sets annual permanent-resident targets at 380,000 and caps new temporary residents (students + workers) at 385,000 in 2026 and 370,000 in 2027-28 (Source)
• Canada plans to cut new international study permits by 65% starting in 2026-28, as part of its federal budget strategy to reduce temporary-resident totals (Source)
• Canada sees a 60% plunge in international student arrivals from January to August 2025 with fewer than 90,000 newcomers, amid sweeping immigration reforms (Source)
• Developers boost off-campus student housing in Metro Vancouver as Forum plans 1,405 units near SFU and Mosaic builds a 458-bed project by 2028 (Source)
• Canada cuts international student intake by 49% to 155,000 and foreign-worker admissions by 37% under the 2026-28 immigration plan (Source)
• Canada sets 2025 study-permit cap at 437,000, a 10% cut from 2024, allocating 73,282 grad student slots and 242,994 slots for PAL/TAL-required cohorts (Source)
• Canada’s cap on international students triggers rapid student-rental market cooling: rent down 8.1% in Toronto, 11.5% in Burnaby amid fewer newcomers (Source)
• Burnaby City Council rejects Forum Asset Management’s proposal for a 1,405-unit student housing project near Simon Fraser University, citing environmental and zoning concerns (Source)

Europe

• India-bound students eye Germany despite high budget needs: blocked account of €11,904 required from Sept 2024, higher than tuition-free public universities (Source)
• Indian students pivot toward Europe & Asia for lower cost and clearer post-study work with drop of 39% to 14% share in US, UK, Canada, Australia (Source)
• Indian student interest in Ireland jumps 38% in 2024 despite global mobility falling ~15%, enrolments at over 9,000 (Source)
• Over 7 lakh Indian students enrolled in Canada (4.27 lakh end-2024), Australia (1.22 lakh 2025), UK (98,890 2025) and Germany (60,000 2025) despite US H-1B visa uncertainty (Source)
• Low living costs (€770–€1,380/month) and flexible visa rules enabling 20 hrs/week work make Portugal an emerging study destination for international students (Source)
• European student housing shortage flagged as critical for mobility, with 19,000-student showing PBSA availability drives wellbeing, The Class Foundation survey finds (Source)
• With Canada rejecting 74% of Indian student permit applications in August 2025 (up from 32% a year earlier), Indian students shift towards Europe’s affordable and flexible education options (Source)