Gatehouse Bank completes successful exit of Student Accommodation ‘Slade Park, Oxford’
Gatehouse Bank has completed the disposal of Slade Park, their Oxford student accommodation scheme, to Scottish Widows Investment Partnership Property Trust (SWIPPT).
Slade Park comprises 374 en-suite bed spaces and is subject to a Nomination Agreement with Oxford Brookes University expiring in 2034, the income underwrite for which expires in 2015. The asset is currently managed by Corporate Residential Management Limited (CRM) who SWIPPT will be retaining to continue the management.
Stuart Jarvis, of Gatehouse who concluded the acquisition , commented, “Gatehouse has been an active investor in the student accommodation sector for a number of years and is delighted to have realised another successful investment in this growing sector.”
Matt Dodds, Asset Manager at Gatehouse Bank, added: “The asset has reached the end of its originally envisaged investment horizon and has provided excellent returns to investors given the strong fundamentals for this type of asset and opportunity for rental growth under the nominations agreement. The purchase by SWIPTT shows the demand for well let student accommodation in a prestigious University city such as Oxford.”
Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Student Housing Team represented Slade Properties Limited and SWIPPT were advised by CBRE’s Student Capital Markets Team. Stuart Osborn from JLL said; “This deal demonstrates an increasing intent and desire for traditional institutions to grow into the student accommodation sector without the need for long dated income.” Oli Buckland, CBRE – “across all sectors institutional interest follows opportunities with strong property fundamentals, student accommodation is no different and as an alternative sector benefits further from high occupational demand in core cities such as Oxford.”
With final comment, Kerri Hunter, Deputy Fund Manager of SWIPPT summarised the deal as the purchaser: “We have a number of holdings in the alternative sector but this is our first acquisition of student accommodation. We’re delighted to have secured this prime property which has strong fundamentals and is located in the iconic university city of Oxford. We’re attracted to the alternative sector for its long income and income growth characteristics and the addition of this asset will complement our existing hotel, hospital and care home assets."