Unite speeds up asset sale in focus on strong universities – Daily Business

Student accommodation provider Unite is accelerating its disposal programme as it focuses on the more popular universities with growing demand.

The company is bringing 15,000 to 20,000 beds to market this year to reduce its presence from 29 to 20 cities over the next two years.

In a half-year statement showing a £417.1 million IFRS loss, it said transaction volumes have slowed and valuations weakened for UK student accommodation “as the market adjusts to an environment of higher funding costs and less certain occupancy”.

However, there has been a 7% growth in applications for high-tariff universities for the coming academic year.

The company completed the sale of £130m of assets in the first half and has more than a dozen further sale processes underway, accounting for over half of those disposals identified from its portfolio review.

“We expect a number of these transactions to complete during the second half. As a result, we remain on track to deliver our guidance for £300-400 million (Unite share) of disposals in 2026,” it said.

“We will bring the majority of the remaining 15,000-20,000 beds identified for sale to market this year and will deliver the transition to our future portfolio within the next 12-24 months. We have made good progress with our advisers and are considering all options to accelerate these further disposals.

“Our decision making on these disposals will reflect their future risk-adjusted returns compared to our opportunities for reinvestment through university partnerships and share buybacks.”

Joe Lister, chief executive, said: “We are moving at pace to deliver our strategy to increase alignment to the UK’s strongest universities, where student demand is robust and growing.

“Following a detailed portfolio review, we have set out an ambitious plan to focus our portfolio on these universities. We are creating a higher-quality business, with strong and sustainable long-term growth prospects.

“In a less certain operating environment, performance in the first half has been encouraging, with reservations up year-on-year for Unite Students and Hello Student and earnings in line with our expectations.

“This reflects the strength of our market-leading operating platform, the appeal of our high-quality portfolio, and the dedication of our teams. As a result, we remain on track to deliver our full-year guidance.

“The progress in repositioning the business gives us confidence in our ability to return to earnings growth and create long-term value for shareholders.”