Hampshire Trust Bank’s (HTB) specialist mortgages division has entered the Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) investment market to increase lending to residential-led landlords and investors.
This stems from not only the current shortage of student housing across the UK, but also the existing experience that has been built by the bank’s development finance team in the sector.
This has led to a healthy pipeline in PBSA deals, allowing HTB to support more investors through the lifecycle of an asset.
This comes off the back of a recent report by Savills, which stated that for both investors and operators, rising demand has resulted in record occupancy for PBSA with both Empiric and Unite forecasting growth of around 7% across their portfolios.
HTB’s leap into PBSA is supported by specialist knowledge of the sector, including the recent hire of senior underwriter, John Laird, who started with the bank in August and boasts over 30 years of experience in corporate finance and business banking, including extensive knowledge of the student accommodation sector.
PBSA proposals will be assessed in line with standard industry considerations with a focus on high-quality schemes which provide accommodation to universities with strong fundamentals.
For select transactions where demand is proven, HTB will lend at up to 75% LTV and from 125% gross ICR.
Chris Daly, managing director of specialist mortgages at HTB (pictured above), commented: “The PBSA market has proved to be much more resilient than other areas of the rental sector — despite being tested during the COVID-19 period — and can provide strong yields for investors.
“As a result, we expect interest from larger investors looking to maximise their returns.
“Today’s announcement means we are now supporting those large or complex property investors in the student accommodation market who may have a combination of HMO and PBSA assets.”
