Brexit fears appear to have had little impact on investment in student accommodation in the UK with levels increasing by 17pc this year.
Applications for places have fallen by 5pc from students in Britain and by 7pc from those in the European Union. However, £5.3bn is expected to be sunk into purpose-built student accommodation in 2017, compared to £4.5bn last year and a record £6bn in 2015.
The sector was particularly boosted by international investors, who increased their market share to 64pc last year from 35pc in 2015.
The referendum appeared to have little impact on the investment flows, and the value of trade was in fact higher in the six months after the referendum than before, with £2.1bn flowing in during the second half of 2016, compared to £1.9bn before.
This asset class is particularly favoured by investors from the Far East. The jump in international investment was due partly to the an influx of money from Singapore, such as from the country’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and real estate developer Mapletree, which spent almost £1.2bn on UK student housing between them last year.