Students from Britain and overseas are showing “increased confidence” in booking rooms for the next academic year as lockdown restrictions ease, Unite Group reported.
Britain’s biggest provider of purpose-built student accommodation, said that 73 per cent of the group’s 76,000 beds have been reserved for the next academic year, up from 66 per cent at the group’s preliminary results last month. This time last year, 80 per cent of beds had been reserved for the year ahead.
Joe Lister, chief financial officer of Unite Students, said the sales reflected “increasing confidence over a return to face-to-face teaching”. The landlord is expecting a return to full occupancy and rental growth of between 2 per cent and 3 per cent in the 2021-22 academic year. Its forecasts were based on an “expectation of an enhanced campus experience for students and a relaxation of international travel restrictions”.
Unite owns and manages 180 properties across 27 towns and cities. It has offered rent discounts to students during the pandemic totalling more than £100 million.
Universities are expected to be closed to most students until the middle of next month, despite calls from the sector to ease restrictions this week.
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Shares in Unite Group closed up 7p, or 0.7 per cent, at £10.90½.