Unite Group Hits 95% Occupancy for 2025/26 Academic Year

Student accommodation owner reports solid rental growth and strong clearing period despite slight dip in sales versus last year.

Unite Group, the UK’s leading student accommodation owner, manager, and developer, has sold 95.2% of available beds for the 2025/26 academic year as of 30 September, slightly down from 97.5% a year earlier.

“While this is slightly below our target, we saw a strong clearing period which has contributed to our outperformance of the wider PBSA sector,” said CEO Joe Lister.

Sales to date have delivered 4.0% rental growth, down from 8.2% the previous year. Despite this, Unite has reiterated its full-year guidance of 47.5p–48.25p adjusted earnings per share, noting that rental growth is contributing to modest valuation increases in the third quarter.

Looking ahead, Lister said the company’s outlook remains robust, supported by growing demand from school leavers and stabilising international admissions. Key factors underpinning income include:

• Long-term nomination agreements with universities, now covering 59% of beds;
• Portfolio increasingly aligned to high-tariff institutions, attracting a growing share of student demand.

Unite also expects its planned acquisition of Empiric Student Property to become effective in the second quarter of 2026, further strengthening its market position.