Dallas-based private equity firm Lone Star Real Estate Fund VII has agreed to buy nine purpose-built student accommodation assets for £212 million.
The seller is Unite Student, the UK’s largest developer and owner of student accommodation, while the deal is set to go through in August 2025.
The portfolio comprises 3,656 beds across nine high-quality PBSA assets in five well-located university markets: Aberdeen, Leicester, Leeds, Nottingham and Sheffield.
Jérôme Foulon, global head of commercial real estate for Lone Star, said: “This transaction aligns with Lone Star’s global strategy of investing in resilient sectors of the housing market where we can leverage our expertise to unlock long-term value.
“We continue to see attractive opportunities in the UK’s PBSA sector, which benefits from the growing student population demand and a continued shortage of high-quality accommodation.”
It’s said that the value of the assets could be increased through targeted capital investment and operational enhancements.
This acquisition marks Lone Star’s second transaction with Unite in the past three years.
With this latest investment, Lone Star’s PBSA portfolio exceeds 10,000 beds in the market, offering enhanced scale and geographic diversification across top-tier university locations.