The underfunded student housing sector in continental Europe has been shaken up in 2015 as a record number of projects and some big investment transactions were announced across Europe. How and why more institutional-grade investors should get involved in the market is a key topic of a [link="conference in Amsterdam on 3-4 November"]http://www.theclassconference.org/#!programme/cjg9[/link].
The underfunded student housing sector in continental Europe has been shaken up in 2015 as a record number of projects and some big investment transactions were announced across Europe. How and why more institutional-grade investors should get involved in the market is a key topic of a conference in Amsterdam on 3-4 November.
'The 21st century is the century of the University City,' according to The Class of 2020, an Amsterdam-based platform on student accommodation and the internationalisation of education in Europe. The Class of 2020 says that Europe’s university cities have an exceptional ability to innovate and create value by attracting and retaining the best and the brightest students.
But all interested parties - city authorities, universities, students, developers and investors - face a number of vital questions before the nascent sector in continental Europe can ever hope to reach the level of professionalism and institutionalisation evident in the UK.
The Class of 2020's annual conference - subtitled Rolling out the Red Carpet - will seek to provide answers to the most important issues in Amsterdam on 3-4 November.
One key issue is how European universities and their host cities can capitalise on the growing internationalisation of higher education. Another is how international investors can support the requirement for best-in-class accommodation and infrastructure for the growing pool of international students, what assistance they can expect from host cities and which business models are proven to work.
Expert panels
Speakers representing the investor prospective at the Class of 2020 annual conference include Felix Hillen, managing director and partner of The Student Hotel; Steven Zeeman, managing director of investments for the continental European operations of US-based residential specialist Greystar; Henk Huizing, head of investment infrastructure at pension fund investor PGGM; Paddy Allen, head of capital relationships at Global Student Accommodation Group and Patrick Hanisch, commercial director at IC Campus.
Philip Hilman, student housing specialist and chairman of the JLL UK Alternatives team, is also one of the panellists.
Click here for more details and to register for the Class of 2020 annual conference
