With development sites lying vacant and student accommodation in scarce supply, land sites as well as refurbishment opportunities are set to be a target for investors, according to Savills.
With development sites lying vacant and student accommodation in scarce supply, land sites as well as refurbishment opportunities are set to be a target for investors, according to Savills.
The international property adviser claims that overseas students account for 56% of overall numbers in Germany, and its universities are actively working to increase catchment. In fact international student numbers have doubled to over 233,000 and the total number of students grew by 13% between 1991 and 2008. However, Savills found that the number of beds in purpose-built housing has fallen by 9% even though students increasingly study in states away from home. In France the total number of high-school students increased by nearly 17% during the past 10 years and the number of international students has risen by 55% with 204,290 students registered in 2008. In the same time, the number of rooms offered by the public sector rose by only 7%.
Savills reports that 80% of purpose-built accommodation is provided by publicly funded organisations in Germany while in France the figure is 63%. The international property adviser therefore predicts investors will continue to target this low-risk government backed income stream.
Jacqui Daly, director of Savills research, said: 'Student housing is a defensive investment due to the fact it has clear counter-cyclical characteristics - when the economy is doing poorly student demand rises.'
