The developer has completed the forward sale to a joint venture between KKR and Round Hill Capital.

Watkin Jones also announced that it had exchanged an option agreement with the joint venture – conditional on full planning consent – for a fifth PBSA scheme in Bristol.

The consideration payable to Watkin Jones over the course of the four forward sold developments is circa £180m, net of all client funding and acquisition costs, and will be payable over the period September 2018 to September 2020.

Additional consideration for the Bristol scheme will be agreed once the option is exercised. 

The other four PBSA schemes are based in Glasgow, Coventry and two in London. 

The portfolio consists of 2,163 student accommodation beds and associated commercial use classes.

This is the first student housing transaction for KKR and Round Hill through their JV in the UK.

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The JV invests in student accommodation through multiple strategies, including acquiring existing assets, developing new PBSA, forward funding and repositioning assets across select university towns and cities in the UK, Spain, Netherlands and wider Europe. 

Mark Watkin Jones, CEO at Watkin Jones, said it was delighted to have successfully completed the sale of a portfolio of four student accommodation developments. 

"Watkin Jones has an established reputation as a leading developer of high-quality, purpose-built student accommodation and it is this reputation that has led us to work with KKR and Round Hill in their first joint investment in the UK student housing market.  

“This is further validation of the ongoing opportunity for Watkin Jones in the sector and the initial consideration of £180m for the four forward sold sites helps further build the group's revenue visibility for the coming financial years."