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Australian pension fund buys 1,616 UK student beds
Australia’s biggest pension fund has bought a 1,616-bed UK student housing portfolio for its new UK living platform.
Australia's biggest pension fund has bought a 1,616-bed UK student housing portfolio for its new UK living platform #UKhousingAustralianSuper has bought six purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) schemes from Harrison Street Asset Management, marking its first portfolio acquisition for its new UK living platform. The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
AustralianSuper launched its UK living platform in October, with an initial £500m investment in student housing, co-living and rental homes. It aims to become one of the top five operators of rental homes in the UK within five years.
The six PBSA schemes are located in London, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff, Birmingham and Leicester.
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The acquisition also adds to the platform’s investment in Bristol, where AustralianSuper is developing a 17-storey PBSA scheme containing 454 beds near the University of Bristol’s Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus. Completion is expected in 2027.
The operational management of the platform’s investments will be provided by Homes for Students.
According to AustralianSuper, the UK PBSA sector offers the potential for compelling returns with the market facing a persistent supply-demand imbalance in housing and average UK residential rents rising 8.7% year on year.
The pension fund also said that student demand continues to rise, with a record number of UK university applicants in 2025 and a projected PBSA bed deficit of over 62,000 by 2026.
International student applications, it added, have risen 2.7% year on year, adding further pressure on accommodation supply.
Tim Butler, chief executive officer of AustralianSuper’s UK living platform, said: “This portfolio provides the platform with immediate cashflow as we seek to achieve scale swiftly.”
Before joining AustralianSuper, Mr Butler founded and invested in UK landlord Student Roost, and was one of the founding shareholders and main board director of Unite Group, the UK’s largest student landlord.
Vicky Stanley, senior investment director for real assets at AustralianSuper, said: “This acquisition executes on the strategy of our new UK living platform to scale with quality homes for rent, anchored to high-demand university locations, with the opportunity to grow income and deliver for members over the long term.”
AustralianSuper is the 17th largest pension fund in the world by total assets.
In October, the fund was in talks to buy 500 build-to-rent (BTR) homes in Manchester from Ares Management. The deal is worth around £170m according to reports. Should it complete, the scheme in Manchester city centre would be AustralianSuper’s first BTR investment outside London. It would also be one of the biggest deals of the year for an existing BTR scheme in Manchester.
Earlier this month, Inside Housing Living revealed that Pension Insurance Corporation is set to buy a BTR scheme in Reading for around £210m.
In other BTR news, investment manager M&G recently announced it will develop a £1bn urban portfolio with a Korean pension fund.
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