Where does the time go? Another year has come to an end and it has been an eventful year here on the TCAS blog.
We hope that your 2015 has been as productive, busy and enjoyable as ours has here at TCAS. This year we’ve attended conferences all over the world, continued and developed our excellent relationships with existing customers and enjoyed starting and building relationships with new customers. We’ve also updated our website to keep it fresh, said goodbye to some of our team as they explore pastures new and welcomed aboard some incredibly talented new recruits. All in all, a good year!
In the world of student housing it has been a busy, at times record breaking year. At the start of 2015 we wrote on this blog about the potential for 2015 to be the year of the planning dispute in the UK. In some respects, it was. From the tip of Scotland to the coast of Cornwall, from London to Wales and Newcastle to Exeter there were planning disputes, local opposition to student accommodation developments and stories in the local papers on a weekly basis.
With that said, it was still a great year for student property development in UK. Some cities saw multiple new accommodation complexes get through planning. Other cities opened new student housing blocks for the first time this year after months or years of development and building work. It was also the first year ever where investment in UK student housing was higher than investment across the Atlantic in the same market.
Some countries scrapped tuition fees in 2015, and others were forced to act with regards to the quality of student housing on university campuses. Student protests rocked many parts of the world, most notably South Africa and how all of that will impact the student housing market in those countries will become clearer in 2016 and beyond.
Ireland endured a torrid time towards the end of the summer with the national press (and this blog) writing on the student housing crisis that led to a severe lack of student beds for the country’s students. Ministers reassured TDs that plans were afoot, but again the true impact of such plans and the potential investment opportunities that arise from the situation will not be seen until sometime in the future.
Chinese investors started moving into the student housing market globally, and fears about the Chinese economy led to fears about the global economy. Equally, predictions about the US interest rates increasing have, and continue to lead to fears about the strength of the global economy and the risk of another downturn. Regardless, the student property market has remained a growing market in 2015, and despite scares and slight slumps in the stock markets around the world the student property market remains recession proof in the eyes of many analysts.
An eventful year for sure. Our blog will aim to bring you plenty of news, analysis, predictions and tips throughout 2016. r.