UBS Asset Management (UBS-AM) Real Estate & Private Markets has purchased a purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) asset in Nottingham for £59.8m on behalf of its UK core real estate strategy. The site was originally a mill, and in 2019, was redeveloped into PBSA.
The development was purchased from Tosca Mill 1 – backed by Toscafund via its investment in Mabec Property. The acquisition adds to the company’s existing student accommodation holdings in this high demand growth sector.
The PBSA scheme – which can house 483 students across 340 dwelling’s – is located in Central Nottingham and provides residents with easy access to the city centre – as well as to the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent’s campuses and facilities. With over 70,000 students enrolled in Nottingham’s universities, it has one of the largest student populations in the UK.
“This transaction supports a key focus area for our UK core real estate strategy which is to target income accretive assets within the student accommodation sector, offering an opportunity for further capital growth.
”The acquisition complements the strategy’s current PBSA holdings, where we have achieved consistently high occupancy levels, providing strong income returns as the sector stabilises post-pandemic.”
Oliver Abram, Portfolio Manager, UBS-AM
