Empiric Student Property has started spending the £56m of fresh equity it raised through a share sale in October last year, snapping up a 136-bed scheme in Manchester and pushing forward development of an enlarged scheme in the city.
The group said it had completed the acquisition of Tatton House in Manchester, a 136 bed, all-studio scheme, acquired for £19.7m in December 2024 and was currently in negotiations on a second deal that it expected to complete by the end of Q1 2025.
Elsewhere it said it had received planning permission from Manchester City Council to boost the number of beds at its Victoria Point development by 310, turning it into an 876-bed student scheme.
Work on the development, which will also see existing rooms upgraded, is not expected to begin until late 2026, however, and will be delivered in phases.
Chief executive Duncan Garrod said: “Following the company’s successful fundraise last year, we have been focused on strategically deploying the proceeds into growth opportunities, expanding our Manchester cluster through the addition of Tatton House and progressing our postgraduate pipeline through the repositioning of existing buildings.”
He added: “These activities, in addition to the recent grant of planning permission at Victoria Point, support our strategy of growing a portfolio of high-quality buildings in top-tier university locations where purpose built student accommodation remains acutely undersupplied.”
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