A UK-based developer and a pension fund asset manager in the Netherlands are set to invest in Australian student housing, initially amounting to $220m.
 
APG has sealed an agreement with Scape Student Living to develop and manage direct-let student dwellings across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide, in order to replicate London’s luxury student accommodation model. This may be the country’s first type of student housing.
 
“We strongly believe that our design and service philosophy will energise a neglected market and give students a real choice for the first time,” said Nigel Taee, co-founder and executive chairman of Scape.
 
The joint venture is looking at providing 5,000 beds in the aforementioned cities and has acquired two development sites in Melbourne, close to RMIT University. The goal is to deliver 1,500 beds by 2018.
 
“With tertiary education being a key anchor of Australia’s economy, continued growth of international students from Asia and chronic shortage of purpose built student accommodation, we strongly believe that the sector provides superior risk-adjusted returns potential and is poised to become a mainstream asset class in the coming years,” said Sachin Doshi, head of private real estate investments, Asia Pacific at APG. 

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