Over £4.2bn has already been invested in purpose built student accommodation in the first five months of 2015, higher than any previous full year period. This figure is 70% ahead of last year’s total and 40% above the previous peak in 2012, according to a new report from Savills.

The on-going expansion of the purpose built student accommodation sector has vastly transformed the state of student housing over the last 25 years. Its investment market has also matured, growing from roots in the Business Expansion Scheme of the late 1980s to the listing of Student REITs on the London Stock Exchange. As the sector has developed, it has seen the bulk of investment activity shift from UK owner-operators to UK based private equity and institutions, and now to global institutional investors.

Savills league table of future development potential for purpose built student housing finds eleven leading UK university cities and towns have First Class opportunities for investors. The rankings for 2015, published in the report ‘Spotlight: UK Student Housing’, are designed as a matrix to assess development potential, based on a number of factors including current and future supply and demand and the private rented sector.

The 11 best university cities in descending order were; Bath, Bournemouth, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Kingston-upon-Thames, London, Manchester, Oxford and St. Andrews.