The purchase is subject to winning planning and is being supported through planning by Kings College London, with a view to securing a long term nomination agreement. 

The site is located in Middlesex Street in the E1 Spittalfields area of London and has a total development cost of £195m, yielding around 6.25%.

The new building is planned to be completed for the 2021/22 academic year and will be Unite’s first scheme since 2013, when it withdrew from the London market because of soaring land prices. 

Richard Smith, CEO of Unite Students, said: “This development represents an important return to the City with the support of one of the UK’s leading Universities.

“This reflects our strategy of building long term partnerships with the UK’s top universities in strategically important locations where there is a shortage of affordable, high-quality student accommodation.”

Unite is the leading operator of purpose-built student accommodation in London with over 9,500 beds and partnerships with the leading universities covering over 5,500 beds.