Ely pays £22m for London student site

NEWCOURT SUBSIDIARY Ely Property is set to pay £22.5 million (€28

NEWCOURT SUBSIDIARY Ely Property is set to pay £22.5 million (€28.2 million) for a development site for student accommodation near London Metropolitan University.

The Dublin-quoted group announced yesterday that it had agreed to buy the development site on Fieldgate Street near the third-level institution.

Newcourt said the deal was subject to Ely getting suitable planning permission.

The company is seeking permission for 678 accommodation units over nine floors in a mixed-use development that will incorporate retail units on the ground floor.

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The accommodation units are a mix of flats, studios and en suite rooms with access to shared facilities.

London Metropolitan University has a student population of 17,000, and the site is approximately a 15 minute walk to University College London, the London School of Economics and King's College and Imperial College, with a combined estimated student population of 60,000.

In a statement yesterday, Philip Marley, Ely Property chief executive, said London was a key market, and the Fieldgate site was the second the company had acquired this year. It brought to almost 900 the number of beds in the planning process in London.

David Labanyi

David Labanyi

David Labanyi is the Head of Audience with The Irish Times