Estate Living Magazine The Slow Movement - Issue 39 March 2019 | Page 18

P R O P E R T Y
&
I N V E S T M E N T
PLANNING
AHEAD
If you have schoolgoing children, you’re probably already thinking about where they will go to university, and
how you will pay for it. And you don’t have to limit your choices to within our borders – there are some great
investments in student developments in, for example, the UK.
Vita Student, which was launched by Select Property Group – one of
the UK’s leading property developers – in 2012, is the market leader
in the UK’s purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) sector.
With a portfolio valued at £1.1 billion, and 4,642 fully managed
properties currently in operation in 22 UK cities, Vita Student has
generated £121 million in rental income. It may be tempting to invest in second- and third-tier university
cities, because initial purchase costs may be lower, but these are
the cities where student demand will be more volatile. For example,
if the cost of education increases, or the demand from domestic
students falls, it’s these cities that will see the biggest reduction in
student numbers.
All the properties are in first-tier university towns with Russell Group
universities – these are the top 24 world-class, research-intensive
universities in Britain. However, Russell Group universities are the world’s best, respected
by students and employers around the world. These are universities
for which demand from the world’s best students will always be
A growing demand
At present there are 1.7 million students in higher education in Britain,
but there is not nearly enough dedicated student accommodation
for them. In the 2017/18 academic year there were just 602,000
PBSA properties available. This means that over one million students
cannot access high-quality PBSA.
Vita Student strategy
Vita Student is located only in elite university cities in the UK,
specifically those cities that are home to Russell Group institutions,
because this is where the demand for education – and hence
student accommodation – will always be highest.
BUT HOW CAN YOU PREDICT THE FUTURE?
Sure, your little darlings may well want to study overseas, but how
can you know where? And what if you have more than one child,
and they decide to study in different cities, or even countries?
Well, clearly, it would be great if you bought an investment
property in the city they eventually choose, but really that’s just
a bonus. If you buy a good student investment property in any
hard-currency destination, you can offset the rent you will have
to pay with the rent you receive. And until then you can put the
rental into a smart investment to pay for all the fees and airfares
you’ll have to be forking out in a few years.