Student housing giant Unite has reported growing demand for its accommodation across the 海角视频 as university applications continue to pick up.
In a trading update on Tuesday (July 8), the Bristol-headquartered company said it had experienced 2% growth in applications from 海角视频 18-year-olds for the 2025-2026 academic year and student visa applications were up 29% over the first five months of the year.
Although only 85% of beds are sold for the upcoming academic year - compared to 94% the year previously - Unite said it expected a later sales cycle in line with historical trends. It is targeting occupancy of 97-98% across its portfolio, it added.
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Sales are expected to support rental growth of 4-5% for the year ahead.
The value of Unite's national portfolio grew by 0.6% to £2.9bn over the three months to June 30, while its London portfolio grew 0.7% to £2bn.
Joe Lister, Unite Students chief executive, said: "Student numbers are expected to increase for the 2025-2026 academic year due to a growing 海角视频 18-year-old population and improving trends in international student recruitment.
“Sales momentum has picked up in recent weeks, in-line with our expectations for a later sales cycle, and we continue to target occupancy of at least 97%. Demand for our accommodation remains underpinned by our alignment to the 海角视频's strongest universities and nomination agreements with our university partners."
Elsewhere, Unite has secured planning approval for its 2,000-bed Newcastle University joint venture. Work is underway to secure outstanding approvals for the Castle Leazes development and construction is expected start on-site later this year.
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This project is estimated to be delivered in time for the 2028-2029 academic year.
Following the signing of a framework agreement in May with Manchester Metropolitan University, Unite has also submitted a joint planning application for the development of 2,300 new beds at Cambridge Halls in Manchester city centre. This supports entry into the joint venture around the end of 2025, Unite said.
“We continue to engage with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) to progress pre-construction approvals for our upcoming development starts,” Unite said in a statement.
“Applications for four projects are under review by the BSR and continue to experience delays. We are working to mitigate this impact in order to deliver projects in line with our target completion dates.”