mc2fool wrote:You might also look at GCP Student Living (DIGS), which has been the notably better performer all along. The most obvious difference between the two is that DIGS' properties are pretty much all in London whereas ESP's are pretty much all not.
Many London based students rent from the general rented sector, some of my daughters' peer group (including one of my daughters) are not renewing leases because they have moved back with parents, are successfully working remotely and are waiting to see how things pan out before committing to a new lease. Others are finding that the prices of new leases are significantly lower than a year ago (presumably in response to demand reducing). In the short to medium term that must have an impact on student housing. In the medium to longer term there are 2 additional risks:
1) the numbers of over-seas students may not recover (many are from China, where political relationships with the UK are not great, even without the perception that the UK isn't safe because of the high numbers of Covid-19 cases). This would also have a devastating impact on the finances of many universities, potentially resulting in some having to contract (in contrast to recent expansion).
2) the reality that academically, many students don't lose out by doing a degree remotely (because with a few exceptions, quality contact time was very limited pre-Covid) may result in significantly more students deciding that the attractions of 3 years on the lash (which they could equally well do at home) aren't worth the additional expense of living away from home.