This week’s PropCast, with Andrew Teacher and in partnership with Property Week, seeks to engage with the big questions, ranging from the huge risk and opportunity of stranded assets, the looming deadline for 2030 net zero targets, the skills deficit on both sides of the ESG fence and, perhaps most importantly, the profound implications of the Paris Accord’s 1.5°C goal being effectively dead in the water.

At the forefront of this transformation is Global Student Accommodation, GSA. As part of the leadership team, John Jacobs, Global Head of Capital Markets has played an integral role in guiding the business to become a global leader in the student housing industry, managing a portfolio spanning 80 cities across 11 countries and assets exceeding $7 billion.

GSA’s impressive growth and steadfast commitment to delivering exceptional student accommodation have cemented its position as a trailblazer in the sector. In this exclusive discussion, we delve into John’s insights on the evolving student housing market, the challenges it faces, and the opportunities that lie ahead.

Global Expansion and Diversification

John Jacobs’ professional journey has taken him around the globe, and GSA reflects his global perspective. Recently, the company expanded its European footprint, by acquiring significant student housing assets, including entering Italy with a 515-bed development site in Milan, and forming a new joint venture to enter into the French market with Nuveen Real Estate through an impressive €540 million deal. This portfolio includes 18 operational assets and four development sites across five leading educational cities.

John explains, “We’ve become one of the most globally diversified investment managers in the student housing market. Our international portfolio now includes markets from the US to Australia, and Europe in between, and we’re proud to be a leader in this space.” He emphasises that GSA’s impressive growth stems from a commitment to being a long-term player, combining operational excellence and a strategic vision.

The Rise of Institutional Capital in Student Housing

The student housing sector has witnessed a marked shift in how institutional investors view it. Once considered an alternative asset class, student housing is now firmly embedded within the global investment landscape. “Five years ago, student housing was still a niche sector, but today it has become a mainstream investment,” says John. “Private equity giants like Blackstone, GIC, and Brookfield are now making large-scale investments in this space.” He notes that the sector’s proven resilience—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic—has made it an attractive asset class for investors seeking stability and strong returns.

This growing investor interest is not surprising given the sector’s long-term growth potential. John highlights that the student housing market remains robust due to its close ties with universities in some of the world’s most prestigious cities. “When you combine the academic reputation of top-tier universities with the attractiveness of global cities like London, Paris, or New York, you have a very compelling investment proposition,” he says. This model of investing in student accommodation near world-renowned universities has provided GSA with a unique opportunity to deliver attractive returns, even during challenging times.

The Importance of Data and Location-Driven Strategies

A critical component of GSA’s success is its data-driven approach to location selection. John is adamant that GSA’s global reach is driven by meticulous research and analytics that pinpoint the best locations for student housing investments. “It’s not just about picking a city and building there,” John explains. “We look at the strength of universities, the academic programs they offer, and the student demand in specific areas. It’s a hyper-location driven strategy.”

For GSA, understanding the nuances of each city’s housing market is key to making informed decisions. “In London, for example, proximity to key universities like King’s College and LSE is crucial, but that’s different in Madrid or Dublin. Every city has its own dynamics,” John notes. This granular approach ensures that GSA is always targeting areas with a proven demand for student housing while also anticipating where future demand will emerge.

International Students: A Key Market Driver

One of the driving forces behind the global demand for student housing is the rise of international students. GSA’s focus on catering to this demographic is a key part of its strategy. “International students are a critical market segment for us,” John says. “They represent a large portion of our customer base, and they are willing to pay for the security, convenience, and community that purpose-built student accommodation provides.”

John’s personal experience as a parent has helped shape his understanding of what international students—and their families—seek in accommodation. “When my son went to study overseas, I wanted him to have a safe and secure environment. That’s what we offer—safe, well-located, and community-oriented student housing. It’s not about luxury but about providing a reliable and supportive living experience.”

Adapting to Changing Student Needs

 John acknowledges that the needs of students today are vastly different from those of previous generations. “Today’s students are incredibly mobile, tech-savvy, and focused on experiences,” he says. “They expect more than just a place to sleep. They want an experience, and that’s what we’re trying to provide.” GSA’s approach to student accommodation includes creating vibrant, social communities where students can connect with others from around the world.

 This shift in student expectations is driving innovation within the sector. “We’re constantly thinking about how to improve the student experience,” John explains. “We work closely with our operating partner, Yugo, to deliver a high-quality living experience. This includes offering facilities that go beyond just a bed and a desk—things like gyms, social spaces, study areas, and even career support.”

Navigating Regulatory Changes

 John’s perspective on regulatory changes is shaped by his global experience. “The regulatory environment for student housing varies greatly from one market to another,” he says. “What works in one country doesn’t necessarily work in another. We need to be adaptable and flexible, while also engaging with policymakers to ensure that the regulations don’t stifle innovation or investment.”

For example, there has been a lot of noise recently in Ireland, where regulatory changes have created challenges for the sector. However, Jacobs remains optimistic about the future. “I believe we can overcome these issues, but it will require meaningful collaboration between the government and the private sector,” he asserts. The need for a unified approach to Ireland’s student housing crisis is urgent. With clear policies and open communication, he believes the country has the potential to become a leader in accommodating its growing student population, ensuring both domestic and international students have access to safe, high-quality housing.

This engagement with governments is something that GSA is committed to, but John emphasises the importance of data in these discussions. “We are a data-driven business,” he explains. “We have the numbers, whether it’s about demand, occupancy, or rental growth. This data is essential in shaping conversations with regulators and ensuring that we are building the right product in the right places.”

A Personal Journey in Student Housing

John Jacobs’ path to leading GSA’s global capital markets division is an interesting one. Growing up in Dublin and studying economics at University College Dublin, John’s career has taken him all over the world, working in a variety of industries, including hospitality airlines in the U.S and Barbados, and most recently 15 years in corporate banking back in Ireland. However, his deep connection with the student housing sector has personal roots. “My family always hosted international students in our home growing up, so I’ve always had a connection to student housing,” he says.

 “At the end of the day, we’re providing a service for students,” John concludes. “We’re creating communities, offering security, and ensuring that students have a positive experience during their studies.”

Conclusion

As GSA continues to grow and expand its global presence, the company remains committed to meeting the evolving needs of students and investors alike. The student housing sector has proven to be resilient, and with its focus on quality, security, and community, GSA is well-positioned to lead the way in this dynamic and growing market. Despite regulatory challenges and market fluctuations, GSA’s data-driven approach, international reach, and commitment to innovation will ensure its continued success in the years ahead.

Alex Godfrey, Head of Natural Capital at Octopus Investments joins Andrew Teacher to discuss how to best use land to build in climate resilience from the ground up. This is genuinely one of our most interesting and unique discussions, so please share with contacts.

Godfrey’s unlikely career trajectory has given him a unique perspective on the issues - and solutions - we need to consider. His ability to explain the finer points of natural capital, focusing on restoring ecosystems while generating commercial value through initiatives like reforestation and biodiversity enhancement, is gripping and will leave you to reconsider a lot of what you may think you know. 

The discussion also explores the built environment’s role, emphasising biodiversity net gain policies and sustainable practices for developers. Godfrey outlines Octopus Investments' scalable fund model, which restores degraded land to generate carbon credits that meet rigorous standards like the UK’s Woodland Carbon Code. Stressing urgency, Godfrey calls for policy support to scale natural capital projects and align financial incentives with environmental goals. This approach, he argues, is essential for achieving net-zero targets.

In this episode of PropCast, Andrew Teacher speaks to Akeel Malik, co-architect behind the Urban Splash Residential Fund, on connecting capital and the regeneration of regional cities, how technology can keep communities connected, and why real estate must grow closer to its customers.

Bidwells is one of the UK’s oldest property businesses, well-known for its focus on life sciences, energy and natural assets. Yet far from resting on its laurels, the firm has made recent moves to amplify its existing capabilities, including advising on the growing market interest in operational real estate. Andrew Teacher speaks to chief operating officer, Kelly Bream, and Iain Murray, head of operational living.

Andrew Teacher talks to the outgoing CEO of Helical, Gerald Kaye, on a life spent in property, the challenges facing the London real estate market, and what he plans to do post-Helical.

Whether it’s data centres, labs or even plain old housing – which now comes with requirements for EV charging, accessing power is proving trickier than ever. Crumbling infrastructure and a desire to rebuild Britain as a green energy hub are a backdrop for major change, but many are unsure about the opportunities or risks.

Camion Energy, launched last year, helps map power, enabling investors to deploy EV charging infrastructure efficiently and also understand what assets may be at risk. In a highly-charged conversation, Andrew Teacher quizzes Jacob on how the convergence of electrification, net zero, emerging technologies, and a new property cycle will create winners and losers.

This year, Landsec celebrates its 80th birthday. Martyn Evans, creative director at Landsec U+I, who joined the business when the FTSE 100 firm acquired U+I in 2021, is playing a central role in some of the game-changing regeneration schemes that the REIT, reinvigorated under the leadership of Mark Allan, is undertaking.

In Evans’s words, Landsec is: “A business that has a huge portfolio that impacts on 100 million people every year. A business that does today what it did in 1944… to seek opportunity to regenerate places that were in trouble.” For Evans, the purpose of Landsec remains the same now as it was then, “just at a different scale and in a different world and with different levers to pull.”

The Landsec U+I creative director has an enviable pedigree in real estate and is best known for his élan in creative approaches to regeneration projects, deployed on schemes including the Deptford Project Café, a converted train carriage, and the MVMT Café in Greenwich.

In his early career, Evans established a nous for being customer-centric. Working closely with Anita and Gordon Roddick in the Body Shop’s US expansion in the 1990s was “an immense privilege.” For Evans, it cemented his ethos of “wanting to work for a company that cared about what it did very much”, including customers, the planet and its suppliers, while also turning over a profit.

Evans’s first opportunity to apply his experiences to real estate came through meeting Ofer Zeloof, owner of the Truman Brewery on Brick Lane. Close to the commercial hive of Broadgate, and a rundown district in the East End, the area was hardly considered a potential retail hub at the time. Financial constraints in redeveloping the 11-acre site meant the team there were unable to “just pull the whole thing down and do a master plan… and rebuild it.” Instead, they worked with the constraints, deploying strategies that are now much more commonplace today: meanwhile use for retailers, turnover rents, and activation through event spaces, art galleries and hospitality.

Perhaps the reason this approach surfaced is because, by Evans’s own admission, he has always brought his whole self to work. Evans’s outlook is informed by influences as eclectic as The Smiths, Jane Jacobs, Bauhaus, the Pet Shop Boys and his long-time colleague Richard Upton. As Evans puts it, “everything I have had the pleasure to learn as I’ve grown, mostly from culture, has impacted on the way I do my job.”

U+I was formed through the merger of Development Securities and Cathedral Group in 2014. Real estate giant Landsec acquired U+I in 2021 to combine its development expertise with the major regeneration and placemaking chops of U+I in London and core cities like Manchester. Apart from a sojourn as Development Director at the 1,200-acre Dartington Hall in Devon, close to where he spent childhood years, Martyn Evans has been with Cathedral/U+I for more than two decades. Originally intended as a sabbatical, Evans could not resist the challenge to join a team charged with saving the financially-troubled Devon estate, once home to an art centre established by philanthropist Dorothy Whitney.

For Evans, Landsec U+I’s formation was a response to the need for successful real estate development to take into account how “messy” modern life is for many people as they navigate their roles of carer, parent, professional, student and otherwise. As Evans puts it, gone are the days where a real estate developer solely needs to “understand how very well to put one brick on top of another and some glass and steel in between and keep the roof from leaking and the heating on and the lights on and collect the rents and see yourself as a successful business.”

Instead, the challenge facing developers now is making the urban make sense. “Peoples’ lives are difficult and complex” as “all of life happens in or around property”, says Evans, and to him that means “if you’re going to succeed in our business, you have to understand the people for whom we do our job.”

Evans’s journey into the corporate machinery of listed real estate is as unlikely as it is remarkable. The stereotype of the real estate professional at the inception of Evans’s career was not that of a young gay man originally from a village in South Wales. Evans’ early life informs his conviction that considering people’s needs extends beyond the development process toward company culture and inclusivity. For Evans, “what’s important is that everybody who comes together in a workplace has a very different experience of life than you.”

Now, Evans and colleagues are turning their heads to large-scale regeneration schemes of the likes of Mayfield in Manchester and the future of Media City, a joint venture with Peel in Salford. Mayfield will, over the next 10 years, deliver 2,000 homes, and 2m sq ft of commercial space across 24 acres. In Salford there is an opportunity to revitalise the UK’s most successful media quarter, currently home to creative, tech and digital companies including ITV and BBC, and bring a new living hub for culture, retail and leisure. Landsec U+I has further plans at the 120-acre site at Hartree in North West Cambridge and the revitalisation of existing Landsec retail assets at Lewisham Town Centre and Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow.