Brexit won’t bother investors in student property, says GCP

The threat of the UK crashing out of Europe without a deal may worry the mainstream commercial real estate market but prospects for student property remain strong, insists GCP Student Living(DIGS). Reporting a total increase in net asset value of 7.2% for the year to 30 June, the real estate investment trust, which owns ten halls of residence in London, pointed to buoyant student numbers and the high price of recent student property transactions for its confidence beyond the start of Brexit next March. Although figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) in July showed a 2% dip in overall university applications, this was due to a fall in the number of 18-year-olds in the UK, not Brexit or concern over fees. By contrast applications from international students - which make up three quarters of DIGS’ tenants - grew with non-EU applicants rising 6% and those from the European Union up 2%, ‘suggesting that any material impact of Brexit on the attractiveness of the EU remains to been seen,’ the company said.