Unite Regulatory News (UTG)

THE UNITE GROUP PLC

("Unite Students", "Unite", the "Group", or the "Company")

UNITE STUDENTS ACQUIRES NEW SITE IN SHEFFIELD

Unite Students, the UK's leading developer and manager of student accommodation, has exchanged contracts to acquire a development site in Sheffield, on a subject to planning basis. The site, in Sheffield city centre, is very close to the University of Sheffield and will provide a home for around 570 students.

Total development costs, including the cost of the land, are expected to be £35 million, which will be funded internally and is anticipated to be delivered for the 2019/2020 academic year. The project is expected to achieve a return on cost of 8.0 - 8.5%, in line with Unite's target for regional development. The acquisition increases the development pipeline to over 5,500 beds and contributes to Unite's ongoing earnings growth outlook.

Sheffield is a thriving University city with a large and growing student population of 48,000 and is home to two strong Universities. The new development will increase the number of Unite beds in Sheffield to around 4,300, across nine properties, providing an opportunity to deliver further operational efficiencies and to strengthen our relationships with local Universities.

Richard Simpson, Group Property Director for Unite Students, commented: "This acquisition extends our high-quality, development programme in a strong regional location where there is growing demand for purpose built student accommodation.

"Sheffield is a key city for Unite and we will be able to drive efficiencies from our scale and enhance services to our customers and university partners.

"We continue to see good opportunities to secure land alongside leading regional Universities to supplement our development pipeline for delivery in 2019 and 2020."

ENDS

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About Unite Students

Unite Students is the UK's largest and most established manager and developer of purpose-built student accommodation. It provides a home for around 50,000 students, in more than 140 properties, across 28 leading university cities in England and Scotland. Unite works in partnership with more than 60 Higher Education institutions and also lets rooms directly to students.

Unite's purpose is to provide a home to its culturally-diverse customers, offering them a strong foundation for academic and personal success. The accommodation is high quality, safe and close to university campuses, transport links and local amenities. Students live in ensuite study bedrooms with rents covering all bills, insurance, 24-hour security, fortnightly cleaning of communal kitchens and bathrooms and high speed Wi-Fi.

Founded in 1991 in Bristol, The Unite Group plc is a FTSE250 company, listed on the London Stock Exchange, employing more than 1,250 people. It pursues a sustainable growth strategy, designed to make the most of the resilient nature of the student accommodation sector. Unite is focused on maintaining its position as the leading provider of student accommodation in the UK, by having the best brand, operating the highest quality portfolio and maintaining the strongest capital structure in the sector. This is achieved with consistent investment in, and improvement to, the operating platform; highly selective development activity and asset management initiatives.

Unite is invested in and operates a small number of specialist funds and joint ventures with institutional investment partners, the largest of which is the £2 billion Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF).

Unite is the founder and major donor of the Unite Foundation. Since 2012 this has provided free student accommodation and financial support to 160 young people in the UK who lack family support.

For more information you can visit Unite's corporate website www.unite-group.co.uk, the student site www.unite-students.com or the Unite Foundation site www.unitefoundation.co.uk.