Unite Group has reiterated its occupancy and rental growth for the 2026/27 academic year, and revealed it is set to reach the lower end of its 93-96% and 2-3% ranges, respectively.

The student accommodation owner, manager and developer said that for its 2026/27 sales cycle, 74% of its beds are currently reserved. This includes 54% of beds let to universities and 20% through direct-led sales.

Furthermore, booking for its Hello Student portfolio continue to progress in line with expectations, with 33% of rooms reserved for the upcoming academic year.

Unite’s integration will Empiric is also progressing well and to date, it has delivered £3m of annualised cost synergies. It remains confident in delivering its targets for £9m in cost synergies in 2026 and £17m per annum from 2027 onwards.

However, across its first quarter, valuation on its UK Student Accommodation Fund and London Student Accommodation Joint Venture dropped by 1.7% and 2.4% respectively, due to yield expansion.

In its trading update, the firm recorded £130m in completed or under offer disposals, with a further £500m in assets set for disposal in the next six to 12 months.

It has also deployed £85m of its latest £100m share buyback programme, with further capital expected to be deployed as disposals increase.

Group chief executive officer at Unite Group, Joe Lister, stated: "Our strategy is focused on increasing our alignment to the UK's leading universities where we see the strongest prospects for housing demand and future rental growth. To achieve this, we have already increased our disposal programme and the board is exploring options to further accelerate our transition to a more focused, higher-quality portfolio, which would release surplus capital for reinvestment into share buybacks or University Partnerships consistent with our capital allocation framework.

"We are being proactive in driving income through both our partnerships with universities and direct-let sales channels and reservations for the 2026/27 academic year have progressed in line with our expectations as set out at our preliminary results."

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