Unite Students, the owner, manager and developer of student halls, has made its first move into providing city-based accommodation for “young professionals”.

The company has acquired a 178 unit purpose-built build-to-rent property in Stratford, East London for £71m.

The acquisition will enable the group to test its operational capability to extend its accommodation offer to young professionals and retain them as customers as they move on to the next stage in their lives.

The property is expected to produce a yield on cost of 4.3% following a planned refurbishment starting in 2023. 

Richard Smith, Unite Students chief executive, said: “As previously outlined, we believe that there is an exciting opportunity to grow our platform in the wider living sector by catering to the growing number of young professional renters living in major UK cities.

“We already serve this market through the 9,000 postgraduate students who live with us each year. This pilot BTR investment offers the opportunity to test our operational capability in the sector and understand the potential synergies with our student business.”