Unite Group plc (LON:UTG), the UK’s leading owner, manager and developer of student accommodation, has provided an update on current trading, ahead of the start of the 2026/27 academic year.
Highlights
· 95% of Unite beds reserved for the 2026/27 academic year (2025/26: 95%)
· Expect 0.5-1.0% like-for-like income growth for 2026/27 (Unite share)
· 91% of Empiric beds reserved for 2026/27 academic year (2025/26: 84%)
· 719-bed Hawthorne House development fully let on opening for 2026/27
· Guidance reiterated for adjusted EPS of 41.5-43.0p in FY2026
Joe Lister, Unite Group Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“We’ve seen student demand and university behaviour evolve during this sales cycle and we have responded well. Our portfolio is concentrated around the UK’s strongest universities, where student numbers continue to grow, and we’ve adapted our sales strategy to capture that demand. As a result, occupancy is slightly ahead of last year and we have secured income growth in line with our expectations, supporting our earnings outlook for FY2026.”
2026/27 student numbers
UK universities have increased acceptances of undergraduate students, who make up 82% of our customer demand, by 1% for the 2026/27 academic year. The UK’s strongest universities, to which our portfolio is aligned and is increasing further, continue to outperform the wider sector with high-tariff institutions growing acceptances by 6%.
Current trading
2026/27 lettings performance
Across the Unite Students portfolio, 95% of beds are now reserved for the 2026/27 academic year (2025/26: 95%) (guidance: 94-96%). This includes 54% of beds let to universities under nomination agreements and 41% of beds let through direct-let sales (2025/26: 59% and 36% respectively). Since A-Level results, we have agreed nominations with universities for an additional 400 beds for the 2026/27 academic year reflecting increased acceptances at the strongest universities.
Entering the final weeks of the sales cycle, our leasing performance supports 0.5-1.0% growth in like-for-like income (Unite share). Income growth reflects a modest increase in occupancy and broadly flat rents (previous guidance: 0-2% like-for-like income growth and 1-2% rental growth).
We have been proactive in adapting our commercial approach through marketing, enhancements to our sales platforms and targeted price adjustments to grow our market share through both direct-let sales and nomination agreements. Income growth reflects a sales shift towards undergraduate students over postgraduates, which has impacted direct-let pricing through shorter average tenancy lengths. This provides an opportunity to secure additional income over the next 12 months through semester and short-term lettings.
Empiric (Hello Student) update
The Hello Student portfolio has continued its strong sales momentum with 91% of beds now reserved for the 2026/27 academic year (2025/26: 84%). This performance reflects the benefits of enhancements we have made to Empiric’s sales and marketing platform as well as targeted price reductions to drive overall income. We see scope to improve occupancy by a further 1ppt to 92% over the coming weeks, ahead of our previous expectation for occupancy of 88-90%.
Hawthorne House
Our 719-bed Hawthorne House development in Stratford, which includes a new academy school, is now open following approval by the Building Safety Regulator. The property is fully let for the 2026/27 academic year at rents in line with our underwrite in its first year of operation, including half of the beds let to the University of the Arts London on a long-term nomination agreement.
Earnings guidance
Sales and trading performance through the first eight months of the year have been in line with our expectations and supports our guidance for adjusted EPS of 41.5-43.0p in FY2026.
Q3 trading update
The company will update on current trading and Q3 fund valuations on 8 October. There will be a webcast for investors and analysts at 8:30am BST. Joining details will be provided in the update.
