Melbourne's student accommodation pipeline rose sharply in 2017: Savills
The pipeline for delivery of new student accommodation in Melbourne has increased quite significantly in the last 12 months, according to Savills.
According to a recent research report, in 2016 there was a total pipeline of 9,651 beds, which has increased to 16,295 beds in 2017.
This increase has been driven by two key factors. Firstly, the availability of development sites in proximity to the University of Melbourne’s Parkville Campus and RMIT University have contributed to an increase in the promotion of off-campus projects. Secondly, the University of Melbourne’s 2020 strategy to increase the pipeline of student accommodation bedrooms to 6,000.
“Our analysis of the pipeline supply indicates that 3,958 bedrooms are programmed for delivery in 2018. In 2019,” according to Savills’ recent Student Accommodation Report.
3,771 beds have development approval or are under construction, therefore combined with more speculative developments there is a total of 6,341 bedrooms that may be delivered in 2019.
If all of the accommodation within the supply pipeline is delivered, the existing provision of circa 7.2% (based on 2015 student numbers) may increase towards 9.1% in 2020 and 11.6% in 2025.
Analysis of the development pipeline indicates that over 50% of the proposed new developments will comprise self- contained studios. The balance of the pipeline is distributed between shared apartments, and circa 10% which is dormitory styled influenced by the universities.