September 30

• Tech will underpin PBSA flex appeal
• For many students, contracting the coronavirus could be life threatening. What steps can your institution take to protect these vulnerable students?
• European Commission presents flagship package for education, research and innovation
• Co-living, an increasingly popular way of life in Provence [French]
• Some students in Ireland with reduced campus hours backtrack on decision to live away from home
• UK student housing market faces oversupply amid Covid-19 crisis but Singapore private equity firm sees values in investment plan
• Covid student chaos: Paying £30k a year and begging security for food
• Coronavirus in Scotland: Nicola Sturgeon defends late tweak on student accommodation advice
• Coronavirus is damaging Britain’s young people – and that didn’t have to happen
• Sweden: International student numbers up 13% despite COVID-19
• Drum agrees GBP 81.5m deal with L&G for 346 apartment BTR complex in Glasgow – which will be operated by The Student Hotel Group
• All you ever wanted to know about UK’s Transnational Education (TNE), but were afraid to ask

September 29

• UK PBSA market growth has shrunk by 2.6% in 2020
• The UK universities affected by COVID-19 outbreaks
• Corestate sets course for 500 million in assets in Spain [Spanish]
• Dutch students fight to keep COVID-19 out of shared houses
• 200 flout lockdown rules at Coventry student accommodation party
• Covid in Scotland: Can students go home? Your questions answered
• Forty students at Sheffield Hallam University in quarantine after being struck down with coronavirus
• Oxford University promises to protect city from Covid-19
• To understand the future, business schools need to understand tomorrow’s student, new survey results published
• Students are staging a protest at the Museumplein in Amsterdam on Friday against online studying and the lack of government initiative to use empty buildings as lecture theatres instead.
• Student loans in English higher education will be made “more flexible” to give greater scope for lifelong learning, allowing study in shorter segments and supporting part-time study, the government has announced.
• QS Report: Coronavirus insights from current and prospective international students
• Dutch students work hard to keep virus out of shared houses
• For-profit colleges and universities could see an increase in their share of the higher education market this year, said an analysis by Jeff Silber, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets Research.
• While professors and teachers in France are increasingly worried about Covid-19 contamination, the Minister of Higher Education and Research, Frédérique Vidal, remains positive, stating that the increase in cases happens outside of the institutions. [French]
• PISA study shows: Austria’s schools are digitally well equipped [German]
• OECD paper: Were schools equipped to teach – and were students ready to learn – remotely?
• It is a tug of war between the mental health and the contagion councils [Norwegian]
• The University of Algarve (UAlg) met yesterday with several local accommodation operators, with the objective of finding quick and alternative solutions that allow the increase in the number of beds [Portuguese]
• The ‘covid clause’ is imposed in the rents of flats for students and commercial premises in Spain [Spanish]
• In Groningen, the Nijestee housing association is conducting a trial with student housing. Dutch and international students are brought together. [Dutch]
• University of Cumbria moves ahead with changes to its Lancaster campus

September 28

• Glasgow University offers one-month rent refund
• ‘Study UK’ event to promote the country’s study opportunities to prospective students across Europe as initial statistics indicate a drop off from EU applicants
• Colliers expands its services for ‘build-to-rent’ with a specialized division
• UK universities must move to online teaching only, UCU tells prime minister
• English universities told to consider refunds as Covid cases rise
• Pierce Education Properties reports 97% rent collections and less than 1% of lease cancelations despite the increase in online education at universities.
• Coventry student accommodation landlord, Prime Student Living, picketed over coronavirus tenancy woes
• Post-pandemic PBSA: how tech can increase flexibility and yields
• Meyer Bergman and Assembly sell mixed ‘live-work’ Paris development to DWS and La Française REM
• Burnley Barnfield scheme completes purpose-built student accommodation

September 27

• The number of students placed in Portuguese public higher education increases by 15%. [Portuguese]
• Portuguese Universities and Polytechnics will allocate places for international students to candidates through the Higher Education Access Competition. [Portuguese]

September 26

• The largest coliving space in Belgium is being planned on the floors of the Passage du Nord in Brussels
• Italian university students took to the streets to claim their right to study and to ask for greater protection and assistance during the pandemic. [Italian]

September 25

• Q Investment Partners (QIP) have produced UK PBSA market snapshot to keep investors up to date with what’s happening on the ground
• Universities should be at the heart of building a “more resilient and healthier” Europe, higher education leaders were told by the European commissioner responsible for education and research.
• Student accommodation linked to further Covid-19 outbreaks in Scotland
• Wallenstam continues to invest in “Sweden’s largest Coliving hub”
• Portuguese parliamentary group, CDS-PP, urgently calls the Minister of Science, Technology, and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, to provide clarifications on the increased offer of 4,500-bed accommodation for university and polytechnic students. [Portuguese]

September 24

• More students from disadvantaged backgrounds across the UK are set to start degrees this autumn, as the global pandemic has not dampened progress on widening participation in universities and colleges
• ‘Stop blaming young people for Covid spread,’ says University of Derby professor
• Measuring Student Housing Investment Fundamentals: As mid-year market data is released, the sector has numbers to back up a bullish outlook.
• Q Investment Partners (QIP) on Thursday launched a £30 million (S$52.13 million) UK purpose-built student accommodation investment fund, the firm’s largest fund to date.
• Hines appoints Farhaz Miah as Director of Research for Europe
• Mental health driving huge increase in renters opting for co-living
• Scape Student Housing Portfolio Swells to $3.3bn
• PBSA goes to the top of the class
• Go-ahead for first phase of £650m Nottingham city centre regeneration, which will include co-working spaces, shops, and student accommodation.
• UK universities are on course to recruit record numbers of international students during the global pandemic, defying predictions of financial disaster, the latest admissions figures reveal.
• ‘A slightly lesser place’: Challenges ahead for Irish universities as international student numbers fall by up to 50%
• Catella Real Estate acquires affordable student housing complex in Maastricht

September 23

• Curlew Capital commits £60m for south east London PBSA development
• What’s Next for Australia’s Student Accommodation Sector?
• Thousands of international students risk losing their places at German universities due to the closure of German embassies and visa centres abroad.
• The private rental sector dedicated to student accommodation in London could see a 24 per cent drop in income in the coming year according to a lettings agency.
• Marrico Asset Management and Helios Real Estate have been selected by Leeds City Council as the preferred developer for the 2.8 acre site on Lisbon Street. Their plans include a mixed-used development with 500 student apartments.
• Student organisations in Switzerland have handed in a petition with more than 10,000 signatures calling on the government to start immediate negotiations to rejoin Erasmus+
• More foreign students than expected in Latvia’s universities
• Despite Covid-19 challenges, 91% of Indian students want to study abroad survey reveals
• A “real-world student experiences” ranking based on a survey of more than 100,000 students in 27 countries has revealed the top institutions in four regions around the world.
• Turkey: demand for study abroad endures
• Why collaboration is essential for the development of smart cities [Dutch]
• Major Covid outbreak at Glasgow University sees 600 self-isolate
• iQ Student Accommodation will extend its iQ Exchange Nottingham scheme with the addition of 85 beds.
• Parties prompt Swiss hospitality school to isolate 2,500 students

September 22

• COVID Is Accelerating a Revolution in Student Housing
• Blended learning will become the “new normal” for universities and students are already embracing the greater flexibility it offers, according to a panel discussion at the Times Higher Education Student Success Forum 2020.
• Node Raises Funds To Invest $350 Million Into European Co-Living
• Telephone line created for students looking for accommodation in Portugal [Portuguese]
• Quarters’ Esther Bahne and PMG’s Ryan Shear discuss the current state of co-living. Here’s why they both expect the sector to perform well going forward.
• The Babel Community, a pioneer of coliving in France, explains in three points why this alternative for more flexible and more user-friendly housing appeals so much to young working people, and in particular since the start of the health crisis. [French]
• With its eye on housing for remote workers, co-living startup Common has raised $50 million in new funding.
• Stoneweg expands the market for university residences in Pamplona. The Swiss fund manager has inaugurated a new residential asset for students in the Navarran capital with an area of ​​5,107 square meters and 148 beds.
• ‘Lifestyle’ is adding new color to the select-service hotel sector
• The ‘Student digital experience insights’ survey published by Jisc found 23% of students were unable to rate the quality of digital teaching and learning on their course as ‘good’, ‘excellent’ or ‘best imaginable’.
• The pandemic is changing the way higher education works—and we shouldn’t go back to our old ways. An attorney who represents higher ed institutions says: If you want to know why, just ask my seventh-grader.
• Catella: Wohnen Europa Fund Passes €1 billion Milestone with Helsinki Residential Acquisition
• The temporary change of use of up to 401 rooms at a 25-storey student accommodation tower in Cardiff into professional serviced apartments has been approved.
• Is there a middle ground on co-living schemes in Ireland? Node hoping to make people reconsider the concept as it looks to expand locally
• Caught between COVID-19 and their dream schools, Chinese students reconsider studying abroad
• London & Scottish developments and GSS Developments have acquired a site near Haymarket station in Edinburgh – which may be developed into purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA).

September 21

• Nuveen Real Estate has teamed up with Iberian property developer Kronos to develop €1bn worth of build-to-rent (BTR) homes in Spain.
• President Duisenberg, president of Dutch VSNU said: ‘While many students are taking this quite seriously, it is apparently not yet enough. A higher number of cases is not going to bring us any closer to increasing the amount of face-to-face teaching. Which means it is better to attend a lecture than a party.’
• The Portuguese Minister of Higher Education addressed students and institutions of higher education to ask for a collective effort in a dignified integration of new students and compliance with the COVID-19 pandemic mitigation rules. [Portuguese]
• Curlew Capital has demonstrated confidence in London student housing, committing £60 million to fund the development of new accommodation in Bermondsey.
• Students locked down after illegal parties at UK universities
• Students flock to London lettings market despite Covid-19 woes
• Data on 123,309 students in India collected over four years by Yocket has revealed that interest for 2021 studies has shifted slightly from the US to favour Canada, UK and Germany.
• To get its beds filled anyway, a Ghent hostel now also appeals to students. Their offer: a room for one or a few days a week. [Dutch]
• The memorandum of understanding between the University, the Municipality of Venice, Abbav, Confedilizia and the Agata association to rent tourist apartments to students is in the pipeline [Italian]
• Portuguese Minister Manuel Heitor announced an increase in the number of beds available to accommodate students. [Portuguese]
• The controversial building site of Las Drassanes in Barcelona, ​​which for years tried to become a luxury hotel space, could end up hosting a student residence. [Spanish]

September 20

• How German universities are preparing for the winter semester [German]
• Survey: online teaching in pandemic burdens students [German]

September 19

• This is how the University of Siena will start their academic year [Italian]
• Survey in Florence: university students prefer distance learning [Italian]
• Rising student mental health problems need urgent action
• Students: the missing perspective on the COVID experience

September 18

• Xior and PXL University of Applied Sciences and Arts reach new heights together with “Classroom in the sky”
• The Bavarian youth hostels are relying on students as a target group in the Corona crisis. [German]
• Vrije Universiteit Brussel opts for face-to-face learning, even with code orange. To facilitate this they will be collaborating with Upkot, Upliving, and empty office buildings. [Dutch]
• Long-term rental platform, Bad I, and student association, Studentfy, sent out a survey to radiograph the housing preferences of university student in Barcelona. [Spanish]
• Italian Minister Manfredi: “In Catania university enrollments increased by 5%” [Italian]
• Karakaya is developing 151 student apartments in Darmstadt [German]
• Dutch university leaders question IND’s figures which portray a drop in international students. As some institutions have actually seen an increase.
• Hines Names New European Director of Living Operations, Marc Sampietro.
• Positive demand for undergrad accommodation boosts the PBSA sector according to CBRE PBSA sector update
• Co-living company Hmlet moves into the property and lifestyle sector
• The coronavirus puts a brake on the arrival of foreign students in French universities, with an expected 20% drop in numbers [French]