Atelier has provided a £5.5m loan for the student accommodation scheme

A £5.5m financing deal has been approved to fund the refurbishment of 36 student studios in Bristol city centre, specialist development finance lender Atelier has today announced.

The loan from Atelier will allow developer Rengen to purchase and refurbish an existing building in the city centre to provide 36 self-contained student studios, in response to demand. The scheme will be delivered over the summer of 2024 while the building is vacant and then will be fully let to students in time for the beginning of the 2024-2025 academic year. Creswicke House, on Small Street, is in a prime student location, a short walk from Bristol University.

Bristol has one of the greatest shortages of student accommodation in the country, with figures from CBRE highlighting that since 2018 just 2,900 beds have been delivered while demand for purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) has grown by 8,000 in that timeframe.

On the financing deal, Matt Measures, Senior Investment Manager at Atelier, commented: “We are delighted to fund our sixth project with Rengen. This project will assist with filling the PBSA shortfall in Bristol through the refurbishment of a building in a prime student location.”