The latest Knight Frank quarterly update on the sector found that investors spent £880m on PBSA projects in the fourth quarter of 2025.

A total of 79 PBSA deals were completed last year which is 20% more than in 2024.

However, Knight Frank has warned against these healthy volumes as representing student accommodation as an “easy” market.

This is due to prolonged deal times due to misalignment between vendor and purchaser pricing expectations.

In 2025 single asset operational stock accounted for the largest share of investor activity, consistent with long-term trends, with 37 assets sold.

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Last year also saw a resurgence in portfolio level transactions and launches. In total 13 portfolios traded, five of which transacted for more than £200m.

Looking ahead, associate Katie O’Neill — who authored the update expects to see capital chasing expansion in the PBSA market in 2026.

“This will be focused on 1) plug and play ability across platforms, 2) composition strength, with a preference for 100% Russell Group exposure and ‘manageable’ asset sizes of 400-500 beds, 3) middle market product offering, appealing to both domestic and international students, and 4) risk adjusted returns; defensive entry points relative to the amount of scale desired, and active asset management to unlock rental reversion,” she wrote.