Italian PBSA Snapshot | Q1-Q3 2022

Key takeaways:

• Student housing is showing intrinsic growth potential
  The student housing sector was one of the most hit by the global pandemic, but it is emerging stronger, showing intrinsic growth potential.

• International students returning with occupational demand
  Global travel restrictions may have stunted international students' growth in 2020 and 2021, but recent evidence suggests enrolment bounce-back.

• Student accommodations remain an emerging asset class
  In Italy, PBSA is a developing asset class, with great investment potential and geographic diversification. Although invested volumes are still low, the great appeal of the sector can be gauged by the number of operators, developers and players that are planning to develop new structures.

The positive momentum of the sector is reflected by the investment volumes activity: the first nine months of 2022 recorded €7.1 bn in Continental Europe and UK* in PBSA, a figure 10% higher than the same period last year. UK confirmed to be the country with most investments (49%), followed by Spain (18%) and Denmark (12%). *The £3bn+ Student Roost deal was not considered, as this deal is pending approval by the Competition and Markets Authority. Moreover, M&A transactions below GBP 3bn threshold were included in investment volumes.

The future Student Housing in the main Italian cities supply will see almost 19,700 beds to be completed by 2025, 34% of them already under construction, and more than half concentrated in Milan and Bologna.

Compared to other EMEA Countries, the Italian market is still young and has a long way ahead, with much space to grow: comparing satisfied with unmet demand, the Italian market in its entirety has a 20% of unmet demand, and still an 80% headroom to grow to fill the unmet demand.