Aviva Investors acquires 99-bed purpose-built student accommodation asset in Glasgow

26 September 2024

(London) – Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc, announces it has acquired a purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) property in Glasgow for £23 million, as it continues to grow its strategic asset allocation to UK living.

Completed in January 2024 and fully-let for the 2024/2025 academic year, 31 Gilbert Street is a 99-bed, all-studio development which offers rooms varying from 17 sq m to 29 sq m in size, including a number of accessible rooms. The development also offers student residents an on-site gym, whilst also benefitting from access to a communal lounge, cinema room and external courtyard.

The property holds an EPC rating of ‘A’ and has no fossil fuels on site, having been built with all-electric solutions and air source heat pumps for its ongoing energy and heating needs. There is also has scope to add roof-mounted photovoltaic (PV) solar panels.

In keeping with Aviva Investors’ strategic focus on multi-university cities with strong market dynamics, 31 Gilbert Street sits in the west end of Glasgow and is an 11-min walk to the University of Glasgow, one of the UK’s 24 Russell Group universities recognised as being world-class, research-intensive institutions. Collectively, Russell Group universities produce more than two-thirds of the world-leading research produced in UK universities, support more than 260,000 jobs across the country and inject nearly £87 billion into the national economy every year.1

The investment in 31 Gilbert Street comes after Aviva Investors acquired a portfolio of six PBSA assets in December 2023, spread across four cities across the UK and which provide more than 1,000 bedspaces for students. In July, it also agreed to acquire and forward fund a fully amortising lease for the creation of a new student village at Staffordshire University.

James Stevens, Head of Real Estate Investment at Aviva Investors, said:

“This is another example of Aviva Investors materially increasing its investment in the UK’s living and residential sector. The supply of student accommodation has fallen in recent years, despite student numbers continuing to rise. Glasgow is a prime example of this, with the city having the second highest shortfall of student beds in the UK. Not only does this acquisition show how private capital can play a role in addressing this imbalance, we believe it will bring long-term performance to our portfolio and support client outcomes.”

1. https://russellgroup.ac.uk/about/our-universities/

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