Unite Students acquires £41m development site in Manchester

Student accommodation developer Unite Students has signed a deal to acquire a Manchester development site on a subject-to-planning basis.

Located near to the University of Manchester in the city centre, Unite is hoping to transform the site into around 450 student homes.

The transaction is expected to cost around £41m and deliver a return of between 8.0 – 8.5%.

Unite will fund the scheme internally with target completion in time for the 2020 academic year.

Group property director Richard Simpson said: “This acquisition extends our high-quality development programme in a strong regional location where there is growing demand for purpose built student accommodation.

“Manchester is a thriving student city which we expect to continue to attract high numbers of students.”

He added: “We look forward to working with the local Universities to help meet the strong demand for high-quality student accommodation.”

The acquisition will increase Unite’s development pipeline to around 7,500 beds. The firm’s Manchester portfolio consists of 2,800 beds.

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