Britain’s biggest student landlord, Unite Students, has kept rents broadly flat to help fill its accommodation for the new academic year.
Despite having glossy rooms costing more than £500 a week, the company is having to scale back its expectations for rent growth.
Bookings for 2026/27 have reached 95% of Unite’s beds, the same proportion reported a year earlier.
Its ambitions for rents have changed, however.
Having initially sought increases of between 2% and 3%, the company lowered its forecast over the summer and offered discounts, particularly at halls in Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield.
Student demand changes
Unite’s chief executive, Joe Lister, said: “We’ve seen student demand and university behaviour evolve during this sales cycle and we have responded well.
“Our portfolio is concentrated around the UK’s strongest universities, where student numbers continue to grow, and we’ve adapted our sales strategy to capture that demand.”
He added: “As a result, occupancy is slightly ahead of last year and we have secured income growth in line with our expectations, supporting our earnings outlook.”
Shorter student tenancies
A shift towards undergraduates and away from postgraduates has shortened average tenancies and affected pricing, the firm admits.
Changes to visa rules have also made Britain less appealing to international postgraduates, while more domestic students are choosing to live at home to reduce university costs.
The company expects its shorter undergraduate agreements to provide opportunities for semester-based and short-term lets.
Reservations at Empiric’s Hello Student properties have risen from 84% to 91% and Unite expects like-for-like income growth of between 0.5% and 1%.
Leicester student properties for sale
Meanwhile, Unite has put four student accommodation properties in Leicester up for sale, comprising three buildings with 98 beds and a 110-bed block.
The properties form part of the Empiric portfolio, with proceeds earmarked for university joint ventures and improvements to buildings in its strongest markets.
Mr Lister said in March that vacancies were concentrated in Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield, where weaker demand coincided with high levels of existing and new supply.
Elsewhere, Unite’s newly completed 719-bed Hawthorne House development in Stratford is fully let.
Student accommodation competition
The managing director of Accommodation for Students, Simon Thompson, said: “For student landlords, Unite’s success in securing bookings suggests there are students willing to commit, although PBSA owners have less scope to dictate what they pay in some popular student cities.
“Also, PBSA operators may need to budget for concessions when assessing returns, particularly where competing schemes give prospective student tenants more choice.”
He added: “Those letting shared houses could also face pressure if discounts brought purpose-built rooms within reach of tenants who would otherwise favour cheaper accommodation.
“That means securing an acceptable offer early may prove more valuable than holding out for a higher asking price and risking an empty bedroom.”
