BTR – major PBSA deal in Nottingham and Love to Ren...

Student accommodation owner/operator Student Roost has exchanged contracts on a major deal to purchase a prime new 703-bed property in Nottingham.

Currently called Deakins Place, the property is due to be completed in time for the 2022/23 academic year after work started on the site in late 2020.

The project is being forward funded as part of a deal with Cassidy Group, which are currently developing York House in Nottingham for Student Roost for 2021/22.

The site is adjacent to one of Student Roost’s four existing properties in the city, Nottingham Two. The addition of Deakins Place will create a student village near the University of Nottingham’s main and Jubilee campuses.

Student Roost says its vision is to combine the older and new buildings with green outdoor spaces in between, with residents able to benefit from a range of shared social and leisure spaces inside the two properties.

Deakins Place also highlights the environmental considerations being built in from the start of the project. The property has been designed to have a high energy-efficiency performance, achieving a B+ EPC rating and incorporating several sustainability and carbon-reducing features, including triple-glazed windows and photovoltaic panels.

In addition to the green social spaces as part of the student village, Deakins Place will have a mix of shared flats and studios, and high-quality shared social spaces like study rooms and lounges, a cinema room and hi-spec gym. Residents will also be able to receive the 24/7 on-site customer service and flexible payment options that are available as standard in all Student Roost properties.

The scheme will take Student Roost’s total bed count across Nottingham to over 3,100, helping to meet the demand for additional student accommodation in the city.

As one of the largest student accommodation providers, Student Roost currently manages 54 properties across the UK.

The new move means the operator is now due to open an additional 2,381 beds (an increase of over 10% on its current bed stock) across five properties ahead of the 2022/23 academic year:

Brighton – Hillfort House: 380 beds
Bristol – Unity Street, Bristol: 291 beds
Nottingham – Deakins Place: 703 beds
York – Frederick House: 368 beds
Coventry – Phases 2 & 3 of The Oaks: 639 beds

Stephen Rigby, chief investment officer at Student Roost, comments: “We’re pleased to secure this new deal in Nottingham, which is Student Roost’s fifth new development planned for 2022/23, as we continue to grow our presence in prime PBSA markets.”

“With two excellent universities, Nottingham is a fantastic market for us to continue our growth. With Deakins Place’s neighbouring site, Nottingham Two, already operating a waiting list for the 2021/22 academic year, it’s also a city where we continue to see superb performance.”

BTR awareness week proves a major success

While the industry has been talking about Build to Rent (BTR) in recent years, the many benefits of renting in a professionally managed, purpose-built development are not well-known by renters, according to BTR platform Love to Rent.

To help raise the profile of BTR and demonstrate what sets it apart from renting from traditional private landlords and break down outdated preconceived ideas, LoveToRentWeek.co.uk, the UK’s first BTR customer awareness week, took place between 24-28 May.

The team reported great success and saw a 69% increase in users visiting the site, along with a 72% increase in page views.

Love to Rent Week also proved a big hit on social media channels with ‘fantastic’ numbers of impressions made on YouTube (406,950), Facebook (207,980), Instagram (62,252) and LinkedIn (5,039). Twitter saw an ‘impressive’ number of engagements (14,957) and posts (227).

In addition, the week was featured in 12 online and print publications and recorded an estimated 198,310 coverage views.

The awareness week prompted enquiries from the likes of Halifax, Sky and Ikea, who are set to partner with Love to Rent.

Peter Sloane, chair of Love to Rent, comments: “The success of our first customer awareness week has really demonstrated the demand from the consumer to understand more about what Build to Rent has to offer and this has been seen clearly in the popularity of our first video, which had over 120,000 views in the first week alone and over 1.1 million impressions.”

“We are also delighted to welcome Halifax and Sky as our partners. These are organisations who can see the benefits and opportunities available in the Build to Rent sector and to show the consumer that there is a different way of renting.”