No beans on toast for uni landlords

While students are known for living on a shoestring budget, student accommodation is a different business altogether. Goldman Sachs and medical research charity the Wellness Trust are drawing up plans to float IQ Student Accommodation, one of the country's largest providers of student housing, in a deal likely to value it at well over ￡3.5bn. Last week, GCP Student Living, which owns blocks in southern England, reported a 51% jump in profits to ￡92.7m. Investors across the UK earned returns of more than 12% last year from student halls, according to property consultants CBRE.