Community Focus in PBSA, Post-Pandemic - Accommodation for Students

It is a measure of the importance and resilience of the Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) sector, that despite the unique challenges posed by COVID-19, almost 25,000 new beds in 35 locations came to the market in 2020/21.

GROWTH MARKET FOR PBSA

The increase in supply was driven by growth in the number of students going to University. 2020 saw record numbers accepting a place, followed by another strong year in 2021. Demand for UK higher education is robust and ongoing. However, universities can currently only offer 279,210 beds to over 2 million students. With the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) forecasting a further 350,000 students over the next 10 years, this is a growth market for PBSA.

SHORT TERM CHALLENGES

It is these long term fundamentals that have helped PBSAs through the shorter-term challenges. In particular to overcome the difficulty of attracting international students, either unable or reluctant to travel to the UK because of COVID...

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