Bond Wolfe Brings £14m Student Accommodation Investment to Market

A £14m purpose-built student accommodation development in Birmingham has been brought to the market by commercial property agents Bond Wolfe.

The freehold investment currently has 129 bedrooms and scope for further development, with a scheme drawn up for a further 40 bedrooms.

Douper Hall, 18-20 Dawlish Road in Selly Oak, is in a prime student location close to Birmingham University, and local shops, bars, restaurants and the train station.  It has 122 en-suite bedrooms, two compact living spaces and five premium studios, producing a current gross rental of £960,425.

James Mattin, chief executive of Bond Wolfe, said: “There is a healthy student population of around 63,000 students in full time education in Birmingham and purpose-built student accommodation of this quality is at a premium.”

Douper Hall includes three blocks with communal kitchen and living and laundry facilities within each block. The development has a main reception area and the external perimeter of the complex is covered by 24 hour security cameras along with key fob access to all main doors.

Externally, there is a 26 bay car park set back beyond automatic electronically controlled gated access off Dawlish Road.

Mattin added: “It is estimated that there are only 21,500 existing available bed spaces in purpose-built and converted student accommodation in the city, and so there is clearly a deficit and even if all bed spaces under construction or with planning permission were built, we believe there would still be an overall shortfall of 12,355 spaces. This is a first-class investment opportunity and we are expecting strong interest from overseas as well as private equity funds. We have only just formally gone to market but are already receiving strong interest from a number of parties.”