Student accommodation provider – Unite Students – has acquired a new development site at Lower Parliament Street in the heart of Nottingham city centre. The site has planning permission for a 270-bed purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) scheme and redevelopment work is due to start in latter 2022.
The scheme will retain part of the existing property at the front of the site, with the remainder being a new build. Total development costs are estimated to be £34m, and the scheme is expected to open for the start of the 2024/25 academic year.
This newly acquired site will be primarily targeted at second, third year and postgraduate students. The scheme is close to Nottingham Trent University’s campus and the University of Nottingham’s planned city centre campus development for final-year and postgraduate students.
This is the first scheme that Unite Students has built in Nottingham’s city centre. The company already owns and manages around 1,900 student accommodation beds in Nottingham across three separate sites. This latest PBSA development of 270 beds and the company’s 700-bed development on Derby Road – which is already under construction and due to open in 2023 – will add an additional 970 beds to Unite Students’ total number of student beds in Nottingham.
Nottingham’s home to two high-quality universities – the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University. Both universities serve 64,000 full-time students. The city has seen a 20% increase in students seeking accommodation in recent years, creating a clear need for new, high-quality PBSA homes.
“Through this opportunity we are able to cater for the increased number of students wanting to attend the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, both located in a growing regional city.
“This commitment increases our secured pipeline to over £800m, its highest ever level, and we continue to see opportunities to add further schemes in London and prime regional markets at attractive returns.”
Nick Hayes, Group Property Director, Unite Students
