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BRISTOL-BASED STUDENT HOUSING TEAM COMPLETES £150m DEAL

Specialists at King Sturge in Bristol have advised on a £150 million on-campus student accommodation deal at Exeter University. 

The university has chosen specialist provider University Partnerships Programme (UPP) to run three of its student housing sites, which together provide almost 1,000 beds. It now hopes to gain planning permission to re-develop existing buildings and build more new student rooms.

The initiative is part of a £450 million investment programme at Exeter University, which also includes a £48 million re-development of the Streatham Campus, a £25 million investment in the business school and £18 million for new biosciences facilities. 

King Sturge managed the procurement process and acted on behalf of the university during the deal, with legal advice provided by Michelmores and financial advice, by Quayle Munro.

The transaction is the third multi-million pound property deal to be completed by King Sturge‘s 15-strong student housing team in recent months, having worked on fund manager Liberty Living‘s £152 million acquisition of over 3,000 student properties from Unite Group. King Sturge also acted for City University in London, in a £39 million deal which saw Liberty Living acquiring over 500 student beds. 

Philip Hillman, Head of the King Sturge Higher Education team, commented:

“The agreement between the University of Exeter and UPP reflects the underlying strength of the student housing market.

“The sector continues to outperform other commercial sectors with strong rental growth and high occupancy levels. In addition, there is strong interest in working as partners with a major university - in uncertain economic times, the stability of the Higher Education sector is seen by many investors and developers as particularly attractive.”

Exeter University‘s director of finance, Jeremy Lindley, said the project underpins its ambition to become a Top Ten UK university by 2012. 

“The university is a tremendous asset for the city of Exeter and is worth more than £300 million a year to the local economy,” he said.

“The fact that we are still able to invest during troubled economic times will also help to protect local jobs. However, we also recognise that we have a big impact on the availability of housing in Exeter. Many students live in rented houses and this puts them in direct competition with local families. We want to free up rented accommodation for local families by providing students with an alternative on campus.” 

UPP company founder Clive Crawford added: “We work in partnership with universities to ensure we offer both high-quality accommodation for students and a solid financial solution. Being selected to work with the University of Exeter is testament to this offering, and we look forward to building a successful and productive relationship with the university and its students.”  

ENDS               11th November 2008

For further information please contact Neil Fraser, Sturgess Van Damme, on 01275 349011 or email neil@sturgessvandamme.co.uk