Far East Orchard Limited has acquired a development site in Manchester for £10.9m. After being granted planning permission in April 2024, the 275-year leasehold site is set to be developed into a 239-bed purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) scheme.
The acquisition of the site brings Far East Orchard’s portfolio of existing and pipeline PBSA assets to over 4,900 beds. Expected to reach completion in 2028, the acquisition enables Far East Orchard to continue expanding and diversifying its student accommodation portfolio into key student cities across the UK.
“The venture into Manchester is an exciting move into a new UK city for the Group’s PBSA business segment, and we are pleased to continue this journey with Woh Hup through the fund we established in 2024.
“We will continue to source for suitable and quality PBSA development opportunities within cities in the UK with favourable demand and supply dynamics and to supply student accommodations to plug the growing demand gap.”
Alan Tang, Group Chief Executive Officer, Far East Orchard
Manchester is home to two of the UK’s largest universities; Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), and the University of Manchester (UoM), which is a member of the Russell Group.
The current student-to-bed ratio in Manchester stands at 2:12, reflecting favourable demand and supply dynamics. The well-located site is expected to attract strong demand from students as it is adjacent to the UoM and MMU campuses and has good connectivity to the city centre.
Since the 2018/2019 academic year, the total full-time student population from the two Manchester universities have grown by 18% to 76,425 in 2022/2023.
Following an acquisition in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2024, this development is the second undertaken by the private student accommodation development fund FESAD, which was established by Far East Orchard in August 2024.
“Growing the Group’s student accommodation portfolio is a key pillar in our strategy to build a resilient lodging platform underpinned by sustainable and recurring income.
“The successful acquisition of the Manchester site marks the second asset secured under FESAD, reaffirming our ability to source and structure quality opportunities.
“We remain committed to deepening our presence in key UK student cities with compelling demand-supply fundamentals, and to delivering long-term value for our shareholders through our focused expansion in the PBSA sector.”
Alan Tang, Group Chief Executive Officer, Far East Orchard
Far East Orchard Investments (UK) Pte Ltd – a wholly-owned subsidiary of the group – Aurum Investments (Private) Limited – a wholly-owned subsidiary of Woh Hup Holdings Pte Ltd – and an unrelated third-party investor hold 50%, 21.4% and 28.6% in this development, respectively, through FESAD.
