Student accommodation finance, arranged across the UK
We arrange the funding to build, buy, fund forward and refinance purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA), student studios, cluster schemes, student HMOs and co-living. Development finance, forward funding, bridging, stabilisation, investment term loans, mezzanine and refinance, tested against the lenders active in student accommodation.
- Development finance
- Forward funding
- Bridging and stabilisation
- Investment term loans
- Student HMO and buy-to-let
H1 2026 Student Accommodation Finance Report
Investment transactions, financing activity and evidence from Companies House, planning and sold data. PBSA and the wider student housing sector, with a market outlook.
The finance we arrange, stage by stage
Student schemes are funded in stages. Each facility is sized for the next one to take it out, from the site to a stabilised investment.
- 01 Student accommodation development finance The facility that funds a ground-up build, a conversion or a change of use into a purpose-built student accommodation scheme, drawn in stages through construction…
- 02 Forward funding and forward commitment for student accommodation The institutional structure that lets an investor buy a student accommodation scheme before it is built, fund construction in stages and take the completed asset,…
- 03 Student accommodation bridging finance Short-term bridging finance when speed matters: a site acquisition, an auction purchase, a planning play, a pre-development buy or a chain-break, refinanced onto…
- 04 Student accommodation stabilisation finance The facility that carries a newly completed student accommodation scheme through lease-up, from practical completion to the occupancy and income a long-term…
- 05 Student accommodation investment term loans and mortgages Long-term investment debt on a stabilised, income-producing student accommodation scheme: the commercial mortgage or term loan that holds the asset, sized on the…
- 06 Student accommodation refinance Refinancing your student accommodation to release equity from rising value, exit development or bridging debt onto a long-term investment loan, reprice onto better…
- 07 Student accommodation acquisition and investment finance Senior investment debt to acquire a standing or operational purpose-built student accommodation scheme, or an asset let to an operator, sized on the income it…
- 08 Student accommodation mezzanine finance and JV equity The subordinated capital that sits behind the senior loan to stretch the capital stack on a student accommodation development, lifting total leverage and cutting the…
- 09 Student buy-to-let and HMO mortgages Buy-to-let mortgages on property let to students: single houses, licensed student HMOs, small multi-unit freehold blocks, studio blocks and landlord portfolios,…
What is PBSA?
PBSA stands for purpose-built student accommodation: residential property designed, built and operated for students and let by the bed or the studio, rather than a converted house in multiple occupation. It divides broadly into self-contained studios and shared cluster flats, and is now an institutional asset class valued on income, occupancy and operator.
Institutional capital keeps backing it, but capital is selective: lenders and investors price each scheme on the depth of local student demand, the operator and the quality of the income. That is why the finance is demand-led, and why the operator and the university matter as much as the building.
Read our guide to PBSA and how it is financedWhat we fund
Every scheme type is built, let and underwritten differently. We know which lenders back each one.
PBSA
We arrange development, forward-funding, bridging, stabilisation and investment finance for developers and investors building, buying or holding…
studios
We arrange finance for investors and developers buying, building or refinancing self-contained student studios, from whole studio-led schemes to…
cluster schemes
We arrange development, stabilisation and investment finance for developers and investors building or holding PBSA cluster-flat schemes. This is…
student HMOs
We arrange purchase, refurbishment and refinance finance for landlords and investors building portfolios of student houses in multiple…
nomination-backed schemes
We arrange acquisition, investment and refinance finance on student accommodation let to a university or operator under a nomination agreement or…
co-living schemes
We arrange development, stabilisation and investment finance for developers and investors building or holding co-living and student/co-living…
standing assets
We arrange investment loans, commercial mortgages and refinance for investors buying or holding operational, income-producing student…
development and conversion sites
We arrange site acquisition, development and conversion finance for developers building or converting buildings into purpose-built student…
Student accommodation finance by city
HESA student numbers, the planning pipeline and sold-price evidence for 62 UK university towns and cities.
- Manchester100,000 students
- Birmingham80,000 students
- Nottingham65,000 students
- Leeds65,000 students
- Bristol City Centre60,000 students
- Liverpool60,000 students
- Sheffield60,000 students
- Cardiff City Centre55,000 students
- Newcastle upon Tyne50,000 students
- Coventry50,000 students
- Camden48,000 students
- Oxford45,000 students
- Westminster42,000 students
- Southampton40,000 students
- Leicester40,000 students
- Southwark35,000 students
Full-time student numbers: HESA, 2023/24 (approximate). Browse all 62 locations or see the development pipeline.
Relationships, structuring and pace
Whole-of-market approach
We test each scheme against the lenders active in student accommodation: high-street and challenger banks, debt funds, institutional forward funders and private capital.
Student housing underwriting
We know how specialist desks read a scheme: university demand, the operator covenant, nomination against direct-let income, and the gap between a site, a lease-up and a stabilised asset.
The whole lifecycle
Site purchase, development, forward funding, bridging, stabilisation, term debt, mezzanine and refinance, structured so each stage hands cleanly to the next.
On the borrower's side
An arranger and introducer acting for the operator, investor, developer or landlord, not for a single lender.
From first conversation to drawdown
Appraisal review
We read the scheme, operator, demand and plan, and tell you what is fundable and on what terms.
Lender selection
We shortlist the desks most likely to back the scheme at the leverage you need.
Terms and negotiation
We package the deal, run it to market and negotiate heads of terms for you.
Through to drawdown
We manage valuation, legals and completion through to drawdown.
I spent 25 years in banking, with significant transactional experience including the sector, before arranging finance on the borrower's side. Every deal still comes through me personally: the structuring, the operator and scheme story, the credit conversations, the valuation, the legals and the drawdown. Clients are not handed off. They get answers.
How student accommodation finance works
Plain-English guides on structuring, underwriting and refinancing student housing, written from the lender's side of the table.
All guidesStudent accommodation finance: common questions
What is student accommodation finance?
Student accommodation finance is commercial lending secured on property let to students: purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA), student studios, cluster-flat schemes, student HMOs and co-living. It covers development finance, forward funding, bridging, stabilisation, investment term loans, mezzanine and refinance. It is finance for the building as a business or investment, not a student loan.
What does PBSA stand for?
PBSA stands for purpose-built student accommodation: residential property designed, built and operated for students and let by the bed or studio. It is an institutional real estate asset class valued on its income, occupancy and operator.
How much can I borrow for a student accommodation development?
Senior development lenders typically lend up to around 60 to 70% of total costs (loan to cost), capped at around 60 to 65% of gross development value. Mezzanine or JV equity can stretch that further. Terms are illustrative and depend on the lender, scheme, operator and your experience.
Do you arrange student buy-to-let and HMO mortgages?
Yes. We arrange finance for landlords and portfolio investors letting HMOs and houses to students, alongside PBSA finance. Where a case falls within the FCA regulated mortgage perimeter, such as a consumer buy-to-let, we refer it to an authorised firm.