Future Generation secures £62m loan for largest project to date
Student accommodation developer Future Generation has secured a £62m loan from Maslow Capital for a new scheme in Guildford.
The loan is the largest Future Generations has received and will fund what will be its largest development to date.
Planning permission has already been granted for Guilden Park, which will contain 533 beds across six storeys. The bulk of the scheme (84%) will consist of shared apartments, with the remaining 16% dedicated to private studios.
With a gross development value of £102m, the joint venture between Southern Grove and Tadhamon Capital plans for Guilden Park to be operational for the start of the 2021 academic year.
The developer said it had targeted Guildford because purpose-built student accommodation accounts for less than 1% of the town’s private rental stock, with the majority of students at the four major educational institutions (the University of Surrey, Guildford College, the Academy of Contemporary Music and the University of Law) renting from private landlords.
Guilden House will be Future Generation’s third student accommodation scheme, following projects in Shefeld and Colchester that were also supported by Maslow Capital.
Chairman of Southern Grove and Future Generation, Andrew Southern said: “Maslow Capital understands the fundamentals of the student market and is themselves specialists in this sector. We’re delighted to partner with them again for what is the single biggest loan facility secured by Future Generation so far.
”He added: “We chose Guildford because purpose-built student accommodation isn’t something this area has really seen yet on any meaningful scale. The demand is there and we are going to be heavily disrupting that market”.
Maslow Capital co-founder Ellis Sher said: “Student accommodation in the UK has exploded over the past decade as institutional investors have realised how rewarding it can be to offer students a better standard of living. We’re pleased to be working with Future Generation again on the strength of the quality of their projects and deep sector knowledge.”
