Unite Students’ rental growth falls by 51% as fewer beds are sold

Joe Lister, Unite Students’ chief executive officer, said: “While this is slightly below our target, we saw a strong clearing period which has contributed to our outperformance of the wider purpose-built student accommodation sector.

“Looking ahead, the outlook remains robust, underpinned by growing demand from school leavers and stabilising international admissions.

“Our income is also underpinned by nomination agreements with long-term university partners, which now cover 59% of our beds.

“Our continued focus on affordability and quality continues to resonate with students and universities.

“At the same time, our portfolio is increasingly aligned to high-tariff institutions, which continue to attract a growing share of student demand.”

Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund’s (USAF) property portfolio is comprised of 22,361 student beds in 56 properties across 17 university towns and cities in the UK.

As of September 2025, USAF’s property portfolio was valued at £2.85bn – up by 1.4% since the start of the year. This was driven by 1.8% rental growth over the last quarter.

The London Student Accommodation Joint Venture’s (LSAV) property portfolio is comprised of 9,710 beds across Aston Student Village in Birmingham and 14 properties in London.

As of September 2025, LSAV’s property portfolio was valued at £2.1bn – up by 1.9% for the year to date. This was driven by quarterly rental growth of 0.8%.

In the summer, Unite agreed to take over its rival student landlord Empiric through a cash-and-shares offer. The deal will create a combined portfolio worth approximately £10.5bn and including around 75,000 student beds, with 92% located in cities home to Russell Group universities.

Empiric’s Hello Student brand will also be handed over to Unite. Hello Student is tailored to second and third-year undergraduates, as well as postgraduate students – a demographic not typically served by traditional purpose-built student accommodation providers.

The deal supports Unite in expanding its portfolio, helping it achieve better growth opportunities, as well as attracting a wider range of students faster and in larger numbers without building new properties.

Unite anticipates that the scheme will become effective by the second quarter of 2026, subject to conditions and terms.

According to data from the undergraduate application service (UCAS), the number of undergraduate students accepting places at university for the 2025-26 academic year has gone up by 3% to 512,000 undergraduate students. Growth in acceptances has been particularly strong for 18-year-olds in the UK and international applicants from China and the United States.

Data from the Home Office also shows that there was a 7% increase in applications for study visas in the year to August. Overall, student visa applications were 11% below 2023 levels, prior to the introduction of restrictions on dependant family members for postgraduate students.