Student housing shortage high return on investment
 
Student housing is generally in short supply, with supply rates in major global markets ranging from 6% to 24%, with the UK and US being the most mature. As higher education pursues its internationalization strategy, the global mobile student population continues to fuel demand for purpose-built student housing. Student housing accounts for 46% of cross-border investment (higher than office and retail property) and has become the investment category of choice for institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds and pension funds to expand their asset scale and search for yield. For individual investors, student housing is a real estate investment with efficient management and good cash flow.
* These figures come from Savills
In addition, the return rate of investment of student apartment is relatively higher than that of ordinary housing for two reasons. First, in the UK, student apartment is an independent classified project, and students with accommodation needs will give priority to looking for student apartment, which leads to the phenomenon of full occupancy. Secondly, the UK has the second largest number of international students in the world. The main growth force comes from students from China and India. The shortage rate of student apartments is almost maintained at 25-40%, creating a situation of high return on investment.
 
However, investing in student housing is not based on school rankings. It is best to buy in a college town, where the whole town is tied to the school and student rentals are dense. Each suite is about 4 to 10 square meters in size, priced from £60,000 to £80,000, and can be rented for around £6K a year. The investment is small, but the rental yield is relatively high, with a guaranteed net yield of 9% for 5 years. After the guaranteed period, the yield will still be 9% or more. Rents in Britain have been rising by around 3% a year recently, and returns on investment have been rising year on year.
 
Chartering form facilitates landlord to guarantee income
 
China is so far away from the UK, won't it be troublesome to invest in UK real estate across the sea? In fact, in Britain, property management companies are used as charters, that is, the decoration, repair and rental of the house, etc. The management company is responsible for the whole process, and investors only need to collect rent from the management company. Some developers even guarantee a return of 9% on investment for five years. Whether the property is rented out or not, investors receive rent, which is paid to the landlord in annual installments.
 
In addition, the investment development process also has certain security. Since the real estate transaction in The UK is handled by lawyers, the deposit and project payment will be first remitted to the lawyer's account, and the lawyer will allocate the money to the developer according to the progress of the project, which is equivalent to checking the customs for investors. On the other hand, lawyers will also require proof of financial resources to confirm that the source of the funds is ok. From the signing to the completion of the house, the developer will calculate about 4-5% of the annual interest to the investor, which will be deducted from the payment when the house is handed over.