Maslow Capital fund 300 bed student accommodation project in Nottingham

By Bridging Loan Directory 28th August 2019

Singapore-based Q Investment Partners announced today that they have secured debt finance from UK development lender Maslow Capital for their purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) development in Nottingham, UK.

UK construction business Robertson, one of the largest family owned construction businesses in the UK is confirmed as the main contractor and commenced works in Q1 2019 under a fixed-price contract.

“We are excited to continue our journey in the purpose-built student accommodation sector with our local delivery partners DML Development Managers Ltd. This project increases our development portfolio to 600 beds for 2019 and we are on track to more than double this in 2020, says Ben Hall, Head of Investment of Q Investment Partners.

QIP’s PBSA development in Sheffield was launched and closed in July 2017.

Despite the uncertainties surrounding Brexit, investor interest in UK PBSA remains strong.

In fact, a record number of international students have been accepted onto degree courses in the UK, underpinned by a 32% rise in accepted applicants from China, recent UCAS data has revealed.

“We have seen more investor queries now than before – the defensiveness of the student accommodation sector has been very attractive in an increasingly volatile macro-environment,” says Hall.

For its Nottingham project, QIP has secured GBP20m of debt finance from development lender Maslow Capital.

“The team at Maslow possess very strong market expertise and internal product knowledge,” says Hall. “They are great partners to work with and will take a highly practical approach to get deals over the line,” he adds.

Sky Mapson, responsible for Deal Origination at Maslow Capital says:

“QIP is an extremely professional and experienced partner to work with. This is an exciting transaction for us, PBSA in the UK has emerged as a major asset class as institutional investors recognise how rewarding yet defensive it can be.”

Commenting on Maslow’s suitability to the project, CEO & Co-Founder Ellis Sher added:

“PBSA continues to be a success story for the UK real estate sector. With Maslow’s rapid decision making, rigorous due diligence and deep knowledge of the development process, we remain well placed to support both new and existing clients to bring their plans to fruition. From our perspective, it is great to see experienced developers like Q Investment Partners actively supporting the needs of universities and their students now and into the future”.

Selecting the right construction partner was no easy feat – the QIP team wanted to work with a contractor with an outstanding track record in the UK PBSA sector.

After receiving proposals from six prospective contractors, Robertson was recommended by DML and finally chosen as the preferred main contractor.

Rachel Warren, DML’s development director, says:

“We are very impressed with Robertson’s approach. Their knowledge of supply chain and state-of-the-art construction methods have been instrumental in shortening the delivery programme and driving project costs down. Robertson has considerable experience in the sector, and we are pleased to be working with them.”

Robertson has delivered over 7,600 units in the PBSA sector and recently developed 437 beds at Nova Nottingham which was 100% let within its first year of opening.

Paul Turner, Managing Director of Robertson Yorkshire & East Midlands, said:

“We have been working in the PBSA arena for a number of years and are pleased to be able to bring our expertise and experience to this prime site in Nottingham. We pride ourselves on our ability to build and deliver quality student housing and drive value for investors. This is our first project with QIP and DML and we look forward to fostering a strong and successful relationship with them.”