Unite Group has agreed to sell St Pancras Way, a 571-bed student accommodation property in London, to the Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF) for £186 million.
USAF is the largest specialist student accommodation fund in the UK, comprising around 28,000 beds across 68 properties in 19 university towns and cities. Unite holds a 28% stake and acts as the fund’s manager.
The disposal price represents a roughly 1% discount to the property’s December 2025 book value and yields a net operating income of 4.7%. Unite’s share of the transaction comes to £126 million, with the company expecting minimum net cash proceeds of £115 million.
St Pancras Way was developed by Unite in 2014 and is fully nominated to University College London for the 2026/27 academic year. A light refurbishment of common areas is due to be completed later this year.
The deal will be funded through existing cash headroom in USAF and the issue of new USAF units, fully underwritten by Unite. Depending on whether existing USAF investors exercise their pre-emption rights, the equity issue could lift Unite’s ownership in the fund from 30% to a maximum of 32%, though the company intends to bring that back to around 30% over the medium term.
The deal was announced alongside 2025 results that showed adjusted earnings rose 9% as average rents rose 4%.
The group, however, noted that the new PBSA supply was 50% below pre-pandemic levels, and there were also pressures from HMOs.
“Unite Group’s full year 2025 results are a tale of operational resilience amid gathering clouds for UK student housing,” said Adam Vettese, market analyst for eToro.
“Rents climbed 4%, occupancy hit a very impressive 95%, and adjusted earnings rose 9% which seems to tick all the boxes on execution. Cash flow remains robust, share buybacks continue, and the balance sheet is in reasonable shape with EPRA net assets slightly off but steady at 955p per share.”