As we are nearing the end of the cycle and investors are looking to diversify their portfolios, student housing’s counter-cyclical nature is becoming increasingly attractive. Samuel Vetrak, CEO of Bonard, talked to Property Forum about recent developments on the European student housing market.

Student housing has been a major trend in the UK and it is interesting to see the growth of interest in the asset class across Europe. This was brought into clear focus at our CEE Student Housing Investment Briefing, held in London and which had more than 250 registrations.

According to new research by independent real estate consultancy Knight Frank, Germany is the best location in continental Europe for $ 2.0 billion in foreign investment in purpose-built student accommodation in the last three years (English: purpose built student accomodation, abbreviation PBSA). Germany is followed by the Netherlands (1.4 billion US dollars), France (1.0 billion US dollars), Austria (0.7 billion US dollars) and Spain (0.3 billion US dollars) ).

Although overall transaction numbers may have been slightly lower last year, this is not the sign of a trend, Bonard head of marketing Stefan Kolibar told The PIE. “It rather mirrors the recent status of the market – it is in front of consolidation, many deals and acquisitions are shaping up, there are 380 new projects coming to the market, worth circa €15bn,” he said.

Student housing is just starting to become an investable asset class in CEE but it’s already facing stiff competition