The greatest bet on this student residences market will be carried out by private companies, which will create in total more than 3.000 beds. The public sector, namely the University of Lisbon, will create a further 1.200.
Amongst the private investors, the report "Lisbon Student Housing Market", released this Monday by the consultant, highlights Student Hotel’s bet in creating 435 studios next to the Nova’s School of Business and Economics campus, and which should open its doors next year. Milestone will also invest on 200 beds next to the same campus.
Smart Studios will build a student residence in Santa Apolónia with 114 units destined for long-term rental, not only for students, but also for freelancers and young professionals. This project – which will be constructed on a 4.000 sqm terrain – represents a 5 million euro investment.
TGP and Round Hill Capital chose the centre of Lisbon to create 390 new beds for students and 250 apartments.
Another player active in this segment is Belgian Xior which is developing a student residence at street Artur Lamas, which should offer 125 rooms to the city’s students next year, according to a release issued last October by the company. The latest company to announce its interest in this market segment was American CA Ventures, which plans to spend 200 million per year, not only in Portugal, but also in Spain.
The growing interest international investors have on the Portuguese student residences segment is increasing at a good pace at a time when there is a clear lack of accommodation offer. «Lisbon is currently fighting against an enormous lack of beds for students», it can be read in the report.
Last school year, the University of Lisbon had 48.703 students and only had 1.174 beds available, spread across 20 student residences. This offer is insufficient for the number of students who arrive in Lisbon each year.
The data from the Portuguese General Administration for Statistics on Education and Science shows that the city received a total 120.696 students last year, 17% of which were international students. This number represents a 3.4% yoy increase.