Student landlord benefits as jobless go back to college

Higher unemployment is forcing more young people into further education, increasing demand for short-term flats and providing a boost for Unite, the student accommodation developer. Demand is expected to accelerate at such a rate that Unite yesterday told investors it would continue to buy properties in student hotspots such as London and would not be reinstating the dividend — last paid in the middle of 2008 — until it had returned to ‘meaningful’ profit, even though the group announced a profit of £600,000 after a loss of £5.8 million in 2008. A lack of job opportunities was partly behind a 23% rise in the number of university applications between February 2009 and the same month this year, Mark Allan, chief executive of Unite, said yesterday.