Amro Partners announces it is targeting a major expansion of its European purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) business to capture early market share arising from a severe shortage of dedicated student beds, against a backdrop of rising student populations in key countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Well-established in Iberia since 2018 and with nine projects already completed or under development, Amro plans to announce new PBSA acquisitions in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany in 2022. The company is currently analysing a number of acquisition opportunities ranging in size from 150 to 500 student beds in cities with healthy and growing student populations.
Amro’s portfolio is being developed to be the leading portfolio of residential assets in Europe from an ESG perspective, with all projects targeting BREEAM Outstanding and aiming to be among the most sustainable buildings in the country in completion.
“We are currently analysing several promising opportunities in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany where student numbers are rising rapidly and it’s clear there’s a serious shortage of the kind of high-quality, professionally managed accommodation found in the UK.
“Our expansion into the Iberian PBSA market has been very successful and we are well positioned to bring our market leading operational, investment and ESG capabilities to new countries that we believe are ripe for growth.”
Raj Kotecha, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Amro Partners
JLL estimates approximately 2.6m more student beds are needed in Europe’s main student centres. This is to meet existing demand but growing student numbers are set to push the shortage even higher. According to the Institute of International Education, the number of new international students in the Netherlands and Germany saw annual growth of approximately 11% and 6% respectively in 2021. According to the Bonard Student Housing Annual Report 2021, the existing PBSA offering in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany consists of 12k, 112k, 204k units respectively, representing provision rates of 5-13% – far away from the c. 35% in the UK market.
