Catella Residential Investment Management (CRIM) has acquired a €45m asset in Copenhagen for its European student housing fund and has raised a further €40m for the fund.

The manager said the acquisition of the 10,226sqm Telegrafkollegiet student residence increases the European Student Housing Fund II (CESHFII) fund’s assets under management to €170m since its launch 18 months ago.

The acquisition follows a third capital raise in the first quarter of the year which saw German institutional investors commit €40m to CESHFII, the manager said.

Michael Keune, managing director at CRIM, said: “At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic we expected student housing values to decline slightly, as did the rest of the market, but this did not happen despite reduced liquidity and lower levels of transactions.

“Even though most universities are closed at present with online seminars dominating educational programmes, rent collection remains quite high. This is true across all markets, with the exception of the UK which is highly dependent upon international students and has therefore been harder hit by travel restrictions.

“The resilience of the student accommodation market is illustrated by the fact that all completed assets in the CESHFII fund, for example in Mannheim, Linz, and the new acquisition in Copenhagen, are fully let.”

Alexander Brüning, fund manager at CRIM, said: “This new asset is perfectly aligned with our affordable rent strategy. In Denmark, state grants are available to all full-time Danish students participating in a recognised educational programme, and whose income does not exceed a defined amount.

”Students living independently receive a monthly grant of €840 and in 2019 around 92% of Bachelor undergraduates and 77% of Master students received state payments.”

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