Unite has warned that the Building Safety Act will slow development pipelines by around six months. Chief Executive Joe Lister stated that the business has now factored in another six months on its various project timelines, to take account of the new approval gateways required by the Act.
In a trading update, Unite remained positive about demand for purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) on the back of 2% growth in the larger population of 18-year-olds and improving trends in international student demand thanks to a more settled Governmental policy backdrop around visas.
“Our development programmes reflect the expected impact of the Building Safety Act, which will add around six months to delivery timelines for new student accommodation due to new approval gateways.
“As with any new regulation, this presents risks of delay due to capacity constraints at the Building Safety Regulator.
“We will continue to work closely with the regulator to deliver safe and secure homes for students in line with our target delivery timetable.”
Joe Lister, Chief Executive, Unite
Now, Unite declared that it was ramping up its committed development pipeline to eight projects totalling 6,600 beds. However, Joe said that delivery programmes for these projects were being extended due to the Act.
Unite’s planning application for its £250m Newcastle University joint venture scheme was due to go to committee early this year and the company would, in the next three-six months, announce details of a second big University joint venture.
“We have seen a strong start to the 2025/26 sales cycle, highlighting the continued demand for our high-quality accommodation from both students and universities.
“The outlook for student numbers remains positive with a growing UK 18-year-old population and improving trends in international student recruitment given a more settled policy backdrop in recent months.
“We have also continued to make good progress with the delivery of our development pipeline and have acquired eight investment properties, with value-add potential, in recent weeks.
“These transactions grow our presence in some of the UK’s leading university cities where demand for accommodation is strongest.“
Joe Lister, Chief Executive, Unite
Unite’s wider trading update, which gave a financial picture of the firm as at 31 December 2024, revealed that the firm had sold 66% of beds for that academic year, which it said was in-line with long-term rates but below what it called ‘exceptional’ levels seen in the past two years.
