Student housing developer Unite raised £100m through a share placing for the expansion of its presence in key regional student towns and cities throughout the UK.
Half of the fundraised money will be used to deliver a£125m plan announced in 2013, which will see the creation of 2,500 beds in key regions over the coming years.
Unite has already acquired three sites in Newcastle, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, which will deliver 1,555 beds of the 2,500 that it has originally planned.
Due to much higher development costs in London for both, land and build, the firm is aiming to increase the number of its developments in regional locations where the land acquisition and construction costs remain low.
According to Unite, development in London is “on track” with about 60 per cent of the £330m development programme managed by London Student Accommodation Vehicle (LSAV), UNITE’s 50:50 joint venture with GIC, committed to three projects.
Mark Allan, Unite’s chief executive, said: ”As a result of this and the encouraging demand outlook we currently favour new development in strong regional locations over London.
“We expect these favourable conditions to persist in the regions for the next 12 to 18 months.” These developments will generate hundreds of construction jobs.
Currently, Unite is considering prospective opportunities in 10 different towns and cities and is actively exploring the implementation of six to eight of these potential projects.