Student Housing Consultancy

Student Housing Consultancy

Real Estate

Operations, Asset Management and Advisory for the Student Accommodation & PBSA Industry.

About us

The leading consultancy and advisory for the student accommodation, PBSA and university sectors. Operations, Sales & Marketing Consulting Asset Management PBSA Sales Advisory Board Advisory ESG & Sustainability Consultancy Contact Us for a FREE initial consultation

Industry
Real Estate
Company size
2-10 employees
Headquarters
London
Type
Privately Held
Founded
2021

Locations

Employees at Student Housing Consultancy

Updates

  • Our MD Dan Smith constantly discusses on Housed - The Shared Living Podcast about how the government needs a national student housing strategy and there needs to be more coordination between universities, local authorities, the government and the private sector to deliver sustainable, affordable student accommodation. In short: The right product in the right place at the right price. He'll be speaking at the Westminster Forum Projects Future of Student Housing event in November. The event is an opportunity to push that agenda forward and have discussions with policy makers. The event brings together people like Rebecca O'Hare of University of Leeds, Scott Lewis of Homes for Students, Ben Beadle of National Residential Landlords Association - NRLA (who you'll see on the TV a lot), Calum MacInnes of Student Tribe, Martin Blakey former CEO of Unipol Student Homes, Tom Walker of StuRents, Rowan Fisher and Mark Swales of Universities UK and Sean Cudmore. You can log in online. https://lnkd.in/eJg9MSDw #pbsa #studenthousing #studentaccommodation #btr #hmo #intled #highered

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  • Sarah, Deenie and our MD Dan are back for another season of Housed: The Shared Living Podcast. After a brief hiatus where they focused on bringing you interviews with Shared Living Superstars they are back to talk about the latest news and market updates in PBSA, BTR, Coliving and Later Living. This is a bumper student accommodation episode which covers: ➡ Where are all the late international student bookings? ➡ How students are voting with their feet and seeking out value ➡ Crystal ball gazing for next year. ➡ How does PBSA deal with BTR? ➡ Are we really short of 620,000 beds? ➡ The importance of pricing, proposition and marketing all year round ➡ Why Unite Students and Hello Student® are flying compared to some ➡ How some mid-range/premium properties are struggling ➡ Customer service and the need for correct staffing ➡ The use of current databases and CRM during Clearing ➡ The need for operators to target parents in their Clearing campaigns ➡ Will Australia capping international students help the UK in Jan 2025? This episode of Housed is sponsored by Miru Visuals - Specialising in creating stunning property videos that make listings stand out from the crowd and add value to brands. Thanks Miru Visuals for taking a punt on sponsoring Housed and if you need a property video for your PBSA, BTR or Coliving property then contact Billy Haynes or Clare Anderson. #housed #pbsa #clearing #studentaccommodation #btr #coliving #studenthousing #intled #students #universities #university #highered #sharedliving #opre #resi

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    Our Managing Director Dan Smith was recently featured in Green Street News: Europe discussing the impact on PBSA of the drop in international students at UK universities. Also featured was Huw Forrest of JLL with mention of Enroly, StuRents, UCAS, UK Home Office and Russell Group of Universities. “The market is more price-sensitive than I’ve ever seen it” says Smith. “We made what at the time was considered a bullish forecast back in 2019 about where international students would get to by 2030 and on a straight line basis, we are significantly ahead of that forecast. It has been very positive for the sector.” says Forrest. Huw is right and the previous government met its 2030 international student recruitment target of 600,000 ten years early in 2020 and those numbers have continued to rise. This year however is very different and whilst the fundamentals for PBSA remain strong, it's much harder to fill those PBSA beds in the face of falling international student demand in particular in locations where there is a significant supply pipeline of PBSA and BTR. Have we reached an affordability tipping point and how much damage did the previous government do to our international reputation? Get in touch with us to find out more. https://lnkd.in/gwjbd3qY #pbsa #studenthousing #intled #highered #studentaccommodation

  • At Student Housing Consultancy we see that UK Universities have a role to play in the worsening #homelessness crisis in UK university cities. The presence of a University creates higher demand for low-cost rented housing which pushes up rents and house prices, making these options impossible for people on low incomes. The number of households living in temporary accommodation is more than x3 as high in university towns per head compared to non-university towns (8.62 versus 2.70 per 1,000). Why? University towns and cities have younger populations (median age 32). And they have more rental accommodation for students and early career academics and less owner-occupied housing. Whilst there are several solutions offered by Greg Hurst from Centre for Homelessness Impact, we think that a coordinated national and city-level student accommodation strategy is the most important start to the solution because it addresses the fundamental causes. Coordination between universities, local authorities (planning, housing, transport), the private sector and students is key to offering genuinely affordable options for students. If your university or local authority is in need of a new student accommodation strategy then get in contact with one of our consultants. #highered #pbsa #university #localcouncil #studentaccommodation #hmo #homeless Crisis Shelter

    View profile for Dan Smith, graphic

    Operational Real Estate Expert, Consultant, Speaker, Podcast Host. Talk to me about PBSA, BTR, Coliving, ESG & AI. Founder of RESI Consultancy, Good Management and Co-host of Housed

    🚨 Homelessness crises in UK University cities. I've been tagged in this Big Issue article by Greg Hurst from the Centre for Homelessness Impact (thanks Nic). I've read the article and it has really struck a chord but I think the solutions offered only go part of the way. I've been to Leeds, Birmingham, Nottingham, London, Sheffield, Oxford, Bournemouth, Leicester in the last 2 months and I've been horrified at the amount of homeless people I've seen on the streets either sleeping rough, in tents or just out in public. I'm sure you've seen the same. Crisis estimates a 27% year on year increase in homelessness from 2023 to 2024. Yes. 27%. Why aren't we talking about this more? Universities are exacerbating homelessness in each city - Hurst explains; The number of households living in temporary accommodation is more than x3 as high in university towns per head compared to non-university towns (8.62 versus 2.70 per 1,000). Why? University towns and cities have younger populations (median age 32). And they have more rental accommodation for students and early career academics and less owner-occupied housing. In short - The presence of a Uni creates higher demand for low-cost rented housing which pushes up rents and house prices, making these options impossible for people on low incomes. So what can be done? The article mentions some solutions: Unis employing #homeless people. Volunteering opportunities for their staff. Better education and research on homelessness from the uni. These are treatments, not preventatives though. I think we need far more coordination between universities, local authorities (transport, planning, housing depts) and the private real estate sector (HMO, BTR and PBSA). EVERY UNI, CITY & TOWN NEEDS A STUDENT ACCOMMODATION STRATEGY. It's all too easy to say "If you can't house them, don't accept them" but this is where universities should take some responsibility for housing their students, even in the backdrop of a university funding crisis. I'm not suggesting that every university needs their own beds to cover every student, on every course in every year but IMO there is a need for a university to have a certain number of beds as a % of total intake that are available to their students at a range of price points. We help to implement this. Private developers are building more beds, albeit slowly and we're seeing more JV partnerships with unis but, How can we build viable, high density, affordable #studentaccommodation? Is PBSA/HMO able to offer truly affordable options? Is the answer returning student HMO's to the private rented sector? At Student Housing Consultancy we work with #universities on student accommodation strategies and see how much opportunity there is for better coordination internally and externally. Call us to create a student housing strategy for your uni. #pbsa #intled #studenthousing https://lnkd.in/evJiSk94

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  • Our MD Dan Smith shares his thoughts on A Level results day 2024. Is the party over for PBSA? No, absolutely not but it is time to sober up a little. #pbsa #studentaccommodation #studenthousing #intled #internationalstudents #highered

    View profile for Dan Smith, graphic

    Operational Real Estate Expert, Consultant, Speaker, Podcast Host. Talk to me about PBSA, BTR, Coliving, ESG & AI. Founder of RESI Consultancy, Good Management and Co-host of Housed

    Will UK universities lower their grade boundaries in clearing this year? Is the party over in PBSA? I remember the panic of A-level results day well. A long, long time ago, I needed BBC to study French and Politics at Loughborough University (I would have needed AAA for sport studies... It isn't renowned for it's European Studies department thankfully 😂). I opened my results and thought I'd blown it. I had BBD and the D was in French... 😬 Sacre Bleu. I was ushered into the PE office to make a call to the university who promptly said "don't be daft, of course you're in, we only have three other people doing your course and two of them are French!" 🐸 Tres Bien 🥐 A lot of students will be making this call today. Results are back to pre COVID levels with only 23% of students making A/A*. That's on par with 2018. A lot of students will miss their grades. Will unis lower their grade boundaries? When a uni representative, VC or accommodation team has told me they won't drop their grade boundaries it's usually because they are on sound financial footing. I've checked their financial reports and that stacks up. They would rather preserve their rankings with QS World University Rankings or Times Higher Education by maintaining the quality of students, teaching and research because they know how important those rankings are and how they fall when they lower grade boundaries. However, even though University of York explained in November that they would drop grade boundaries for international students, I would expect that most unis will try to clear up in clearing with domestic students too. This will not be exclusive to Post 92 universities, it will also afflict Russell Group of Universities too, especially the ones whose finances are under pressure (arguably the majority of them). Students will always try to trade up if they can and the top of the pyramid will be relatively full whilst the tier 2 universities endure a bunfight for the last student. This just reinforces why Unite Students has divested non RG PBSA assets and increased noms. Their core strategy is to build and manage in RG locations with minimal exposure to Tier 2 unis. There is still good mileage in non-core Tier 2-exposed PBSA though as long as the location and underwriting is defensive and the demographic mixed between UG,PG, international and domestics. Be cautious and proactive. We won't know exactly what this clearing will mean for student accommodation in each location straight away as it typically takes 2 weeks for the demand to pull through from results day. An agent friend of mine said yesterday; "We've been spoilt the last few years, I think things are normalising" The party in PBSA isn't over by any means but it is time to sober up a little. Student Housing Consultancy #highered #intled #pbsa #studentaccommodation #clearing #clearing24 #alevels #alevelresultsday #universities #university #students #internationalstudents #studenthousing

  • The latest episode of Housed: The Shared Living Podcast just dropped where Sarah, Deenie and Dan managed to grab 30 minutes with Martijn van de Veen the Chief Business Development Officer at ICEF. We are sure you know Martijn already but if you don't then have a listen to the podcast and get your team booked to attend the ICEF Global Summit in London 23rd September as there is a whole track on student accommodation. Have a listen wherever you get your podcasts. #pbsa #studenthousing #intled #studentaccommodation #icef #educationagents

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  • PBSA sector - We are still miscalculating supply and demand. Maybe part of the problem is that some investors are using sales brochures from the commercial sales agents (who are incentivised to sell the properties) as feasibility studies? At Student Housing Consultancy, we sift through ALL the supply and demand data for our clients and help them to fully understand the picture before they get too far into the acquisition or development process in a city or location that doesn't need the beds and therefore won't hit underwriting. We don't just use HESA data from 2021 to tell the story of supply and demand and we aren't motivated purely by a success fee. We're objective, we use multiple data sources AND we consult with our network of: PBSA operators, PBSA GMs, Investors, Universities (VCs, recruitment, faculty and accommodation departments), Marketplaces, Education agents, Pathway providers, Language schools, OTAs Planning agents and portals, Local authorities - planning, transport, education, housing Students and residents We also look at BTR demand, occupancy and supply because BTR properties have anywhere between 20% - 70% student residents depending on the city/property which is almost always overlooked (we've never seen BTR feature in a feasibility study apart from our own). We are still seeing a complete supply: demand miscalculation in the majority of PBSA sales brochures, development docs and feasibility studies that come across our desks. Number of Students at X University / Number of PBSA beds = Demand:Supply ratio. This calculation doesn't work anymore, if it ever did. There are too many factors now at play and we need to only look at the SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market) in the TAM/SAM/SOM calculations. If you have a sales brochure and you'd like a second opinion or a property/city feasibility study, then get in touch with our team. We're nationwide in the UK and work in Europe too and we can undertake a property or location specific feasibility study in 3 - 10 working days. Got a sales brochure? Get in touch. #pbsa #studentaccommodation #studenthousing #btr #intled #property #realestate #propertyinvestment #propertysales

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  • Data Insights: How is the UK PBSA market looking as we move into peak season? Our MD Dan Smith dives deep into the data from Enroly, UCAS, dataHE, UK Home Office, Office for Students and more. #pbsa #studentaccommodation #studenthousing #intled #highered

    View profile for Dan Smith, graphic

    Operational Real Estate Expert, Consultant, Speaker, Podcast Host. Talk to me about PBSA, BTR, Coliving, ESG & AI. Founder of RESI Consultancy, Good Management and Co-host of Housed

    How are UK student applications looking and where will universities (and PBSA operators) end up in September? Things are starting to become clearer but it’s not an easy market this year. Here's why: I've been through UCAS, Enroly, UK Home Office, Office for Students data released in July to try to paint a picture of how this year is going and where we may end up. UCAS - 2% down in internationals and domestic students to date. Enroly data - Estimating 30% reduction on their international students. Home Office - 17% less study visas granted year on year. Don't forget that Postgraduates and the majority of international Undergraduates book direct with the universities which means UCAS doesn't have the data. Why we don't just have UCAS as one source of applications for UG and PG students, I don't know! This is where companies like Enroly can step in. Enroly is the platform that some universities (primarily Post 92 unis but some RG too) use to process international applications. They are the canaries in the coal mine and closest to the data. The fundamentals of PBSA demand in the UK look solid for the next 5 years given the increasing number of UK 18 year olds. But, Do we have the right stock for students are going to be more focused on affordability and sustainability over the next 10 years? Let me know what you think. Read the article for more information on what we think here at Student Housing Consultancy. #intled #pbsa #highered #studentaccommodation #studenthousing #clearing #university #internationalstudents #students #universities #clearing24 #chinesestudents #indianstudents #nigerianstudents

    Latest UK University Application Data July 24

    Latest UK University Application Data July 24

    Dan Smith on LinkedIn

  • On Housed: The Shared Living Podcast this week, we have a chat with a special guest, Hannah Chappatte from Hybr. Hybr is making waves in the world of student housing with an innovative marketplace that helps students find houses and landlords fill beds. It is simplicity and problem-solving at it's core which is no doubt why Hannah has managed to prove the concept in several UK cities and raise upwards of £3.24 million in 2024. Sarah, Deenie and Student Housing Consultancy's Dan Smith sat down to chat to her. Have a listen wherever you get your podcasts. #housed #pbsa #hybr #studenthousing #studentaccommodation #podcast #realestate #marketplace

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  • Fire Safety: What does it look like for the shared living sector in 2024: 1. Compliance: Building Safety Act 2022: This UK legislation introduces stricter safety requirements for higher-risk buildings, including student accommodation. Recently updated in October 2023. Fire Safety Act 2021: The act clarifies the scope of the Fire Safety Order 2005 and requires responsible persons to manage and reduce the risk of fire in multi-occupied residential buildings, including checking the building's structure and external walls (get a survey done on fire stopping, cladding and fire mitigation measures). 2. Fire Risk Assessments: FRAs should be conducted at all properties. Assessments should also be reviewed periodically and whenever there are significant changes to the building or its occupancy. 3. Building Design and Materials: Ensure that all construction materials and designs comply with current fire safety standards. Pay particular attention to the fire performance of external wall systems, including cladding. 4. Fire Detection and Alarm Systems: Install, maintain and test weekly, advanced fire detection and alarm systems throughout the property. 5. Evacuation Plans and Procedures: Develop clear plans and conduct regular fire drills to ensure all residents and staff are familiar with the evacuation procedures. 6. Fire Safety Equipment: Provide adequate fire-fighting equipment as required and issue training to relevant staff if needed. 7. Emergency Lighting: Ensure emergency lighting is regularly tested and maintained. 8. Staff Training: Provide comprehensive fire safety training for all staff. Regularly update training to cover new regulations and safety practices. 9. Resident Awareness: Educate residents on fire safety practices, including the importance of not obstructing fire exits, proper use of electrical appliances, and reporting fire hazards. Provide clear signage including Fire Action & Assembly Point, Fire Alarm Call Point, Extinguishers, Escape Routes, Fire Doors, No Smoking Signs, In the event of fire DO NOT use lift sign, Wheelchair fire exit and refuge point signs. 10. Regular Audits and Inspections: Conduct regular fire safety audits and inspections to ensure ongoing compliance with fire safety regulations. Address any identified issues promptly to maintain a high standard of fire safety. 11. Engagement with Authorities: Maintain open communication with local fire services and regulatory bodies. Ensure that fire services have up-to-date information about the building layout, fire safety systems, responsible persons and evacuation plans. By staying informed about current fire safety regulations and implementing robust safety measures, PBSA, BTR and Coliving operators and owners can significantly reduce fire risks and enhance the safety of their residents. Student Housing Consultancy #firesafety #pbsa #studentaccommodation #cladding #btr #coliving #housed #sharedliving #fire

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