Maslow Capital provides £62m loan for Future Generation student housing development

This is Future Generation’s largest debt facility to date, for its largest ever scheme, with construction set to begin immediately.

The six-storey, 533-bed Guilden Park project already has planning permission and is set for completion in time for the start of the 2021 academic year. Some 84 per cent of the scheme will be made up of shared apartments, while the remaining 16 per cent will be studios.  

With a gross development value in excess of £102m, the project will seek to meet demand in an area which is currently under-served by purpose built student accommodation (PBSA).

PBSA accounts for less than one per cent of Guildford’s rental stock, with the majority of students currently renting from private landlords.  

This is despite the Surrey town being home to four major educational institutions — the University of Surrey, Guildford College, the Academy of Contemporary Music and the University of Law.  

Future Generation is a joint venture between developer Southern Grove and Tadhamon Capital.

This will be the company’s third PBSA scheme to enter construction. Similar projects in Sheffield and Colchester, that were also supported by Maslow Capital, are currently under development and both due to complete before the start of the 2019/20 academic year.

Guilden Park takes the total value of Maslow Capital loans across the three schemes to in excess of £100m.

Demand is there

In 2017, Future Generation said it aimed to build 10,000 student beds in five years, while also raising the quality of affordable student homes. To date, the firm has a pipeline of approximately 5,000 student beds.  

Andrew Southern, chairman of Southern Grove and Future Generation, said: “Maslow Capital understands the fundamentals of the student market and are 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. 

“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.” 

Ellis Sher, co-founder of Maslow Capital, added: “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.”