Global asset management business of Aviva plc – Aviva Investors – acquires a PBSA scheme in Glasgow for £23m as the company continues to grow its strategic asset allocation to the UK Living sector. The scheme completed in 2024 and is fully let for the 2024/2025 academic year.
Located at 31 Gilbert Street, the PBSA scheme includes 99 studios ranging from 17 sqm to 29 sqm in size and includes several accessible rooms. Amenities include an on-site gym, communal lounge, cinema room and external courtyard.
The Glasgow property has been built with all-electric solutions and air source heat pumps for its ongoing energy and heating needs. It has an EPC rating of ‘A’ and has no fossil fuels on site. The scheme also has scope to add roof-mounted photovoltaic (PV) solar panels.
“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.”
James Stevens, Head of Real Estate Investment, Aviva Investors
In line with Aviva Investors’ strategic focus on multi-university cities with strong market dynamics, the 31 Gilbert Street scheme Street sits in the west end of Glasgow.
Residents benefit from being an 11-minute walk to the University of Glasgow, which is one of the UK’s 24 Russell Group universities recognised as being world-class, research-intensive institutions.
Collectively, Russell Group universities produce over two-thirds of the world-leading research produced in UK universities, and support over 260,000 jobs across the country, injecting nearly £87bn into the national economy every year.
This investment follows Aviva Investors acquisition of a six PBSA asset portfolio in December 2023. The assets are located across four UK cities – Edinburgh, Liverpool, Exeter and Falmouth – and provides over 1,000 student beds.
In July, the company also agreed to acquire and forward fund a fully amortising lease for the creation of a new student village at Staffordshire University. The PBSA scheme will be located at the University’s Stoke-on-Trent Campus on its Leek Road site.
