Generation’s joint venture with pan-European real estate investment manager, Europa Capital has raised new capital of circa £100 million for the Europa Generation Student Fund (the “Fund”), from a number of global institutional investors. The Fund currently has assets under management of £180 million comprising 1,561 beds which are operational in Bath, Newcastle, Sheffield, Aberdeen and Bournemouth and a further 144 beds in Oxford that are due to become operational this summer.
By establishing a portfolio of modern purpose-built student accommodation in UK cities, Europa Generation’s strategy looks to exploit favourable market dynamics and deliver a sustainable and growing income return to investors. Student accommodation is a mature and liquid asset type, offering highly resilient asset performance, strong rental growth and significant occupational excess demand over supply, driven in part by strong demand from international students.
Europa Capital and Generation’s combined track record in the “living” markets is in excess of 12,000 bed spaces across PRS and student accommodation in key UK and European locations. The venture further benefits from Generation’s track record in building two internationally recognised customer focused operational brands, Nido Student Living and Pure Student Living, which have a combined asset value well in excess of £1 billion.
Alan Artus, co-founder of Generation Estates and Partner at Europa Generation said: “The opportunities for institutional investors to access the PBSA market in collective vehicles are limited. Therefore, our ambition is to scale our platform with Europa, broaden our investor base and to grow the Student Fund’s portfolio throughout the United Kingdom. The student accommodation sector remains a highly attractive market that is resilient to economic headwinds and continues to offer favourable supply and demand dynamics. The shortage of modern, high quality accommodation in leading university towns and cities is demonstrated by the strong level of demand we see across our operational portfolio”
