As lenders are showing, student housing remains a strong bet for uncertain times

As lenders are showing, student housing remains a strong bet for uncertain times, writes, John Jacobs global head of capital markets at Global Student Accommodation.

Despite the current challenges facing real estate, not all segments of the market are identical. As the  economic repercussions of the COVID-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine are felt globally, driving inflation to 40-year highs, and interest rates to levels not seen since 2008, student housing continues to perform strongly.

With a robust investment thesis underpinned by positive supply and demand fundamentals, this resilient asset class delivers solid rental income and remains attractive to lenders looking for stability.

Student accommodation is largely uncorre­lated to traditional financial markets, built on the solid foundation of global higher education, which has historically performed well through economic cycles. We saw this following the financial crises of