Shares in Unite Group fell on Friday after Britain’s largest operator of student accommodation said bookings for the 2026/27 academic year were running slightly behind the pace seen a year earlier and that occupancy was expected to be at the lower end of its guided range.
As of May 15, the Unite Students portfolio had 79% of beds reserved for 2026/27, down from 80% at the same point the prior year. The composition of that progress remained split between university nomination agreements and direct-let sales.
- Overall reservations: 79% for 2026/27, versus 80% at the same stage in 2025/26.
- Breakdown: 54% reserved via nomination agreements with universities and 25% through direct-let sales, compared with 58% and 22% respectively for 2025/26.
Unite said this sales trajectory was consistent with its guidance that occupancy would be toward the lower end of its 93%-96% target range. The group reiterated expectations for rental growth of 2%-3%, which it said would translate into like-for-like income growth of 0%-2%.
"We are being proactive in driving income through both our partnerships with universities and direct-let sales channels," chief executive Joe Lister said in a statement.
The company also reported progress at its Hello Student portfolio, the business previously branded Empiric, where 47% of rooms were reserved for 2026/27 as of the same date, down from 55% at the equivalent point last year. Unite said measures taken to improve Empiric’s sales platform had sped bookings and it continued to expect Hello Student to reach around 85% occupancy for the 2026/27 year, a level in line with its direct-let sales performance.
Unite restated its full-year guidance for adjusted earnings per share of 41.5 pence to 43 pence for FY26, saying trading during the first four months of the financial year supported that outlook.
Goldman Sachs, which rates Unite a buy with a 12-month price target of 560 pence - implying roughly 16% upside to Thursday’s closing price of 481.6 pence - said it expected the update to have "a limited impact given bookings are tracking in line with previous guidance."
Unite provides homes to 72,000 students across university towns and cities and partners with more than 60 universities.
Market context and takeaways
- Bookings across the core Unite Students portfolio are marginally behind last year at the same point, driven by a small decline in both overall reservations and the share secured through nomination agreements.
- Hello Student (formerly Empiric) lagged its prior-year booking pace at the reporting date but the company expects interventions to raise bookings and sustain occupancy around 85%.
- Management reaffirmed FY26 adjusted EPS guidance and reiterated modest rental growth expectations that would result in low single-digit like-for-like income expansion.