The number of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) beds in the UK is predicted to jump 23% as the market enters a “more saturated” phase, according to new data from BONARD revealed by Property Week.
BONARD’s latest PBSA Market report found that the UK’s pipeline stood at more than 176,714 publicly disclosed PBSA beds across 436 assets at the end of June. If developed, this would increase the UK’s existing stock of around 755,000 beds by almost a quarter.
The residential research adviser said the expected increase in the number of UK beds was higher than in several other European markets, with expected additions to existing stock standing at around 9% in France, 12% in Germany and 15% in the Netherlands.
However, the umber of UK PBSA beds in the development pipeline still represents a slowdown from the 193,948 reported in 2025. The report shows that in 2019, the number of beds in the development pipeline stood at 34,082, then rose to 43,400 and 115,000 in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
Patrik Pavlacic, chief intelligence officer at BONARD, said: “The UK PBSA market has arguably entered a new phase of maturity.
“After years of exceptional growth, success can no longer be taken for granted. Investment decisions require a completely new level of synthesis of local market dynamics, student demand, affordability constraints, strengthening competition, and organisational resilience.”
BONARD chief executive Samuel Vetrak added: “The UK PBSA market has matured considerably. The next stage requires equally mature ways of understanding demand. Broad student numbers and headline provision rates can hide very different conditions at university, city and even micro-location level.”
The report also revealed that the average PBSA rent across the UK stands at £270 per week, with Greater London topping the market at £466 per week, followed by Bristol and Edinburgh.
Of the assets under development for which capacity has been disclosed, the largest share falls within the 100 to 299-bed range, accounting for 33% of projects. This is followed by schemes with more than 499 beds, accounting for 29%. Schemes below 100 beds make up 21% of projects in the pipeline, with schemes between 300 and 499 accounting for the final 17%.
BONARD also revealed that 152,825 of PBSA beds in the development pipeline are in private schemes, of which 114,682 are in planning and 38,143 under construction.
Unite Group had the most beds in the private PBSA pipeline, at 7,761 as of the end of June, followed by Fusion Students (6,488), iQ Student Accommodation (4,976), Prestige Student Living (4,840) and Fresh (4,182).
