Hong Kong investors take a shine to UK student studio flats

More and more Hong Kong investors are turning to a new type of British property asset - student studio apartments.

Located in purpose-built blocks or converted buildings, these properties can be purchased for less than £50,000 (HK$586,000), making them less costly to buy than most mainstream British homes.

Hong Kong investors have purchased 17 such studio flats at the City Point student accommodation block in Liverpool following an exhibition organised by Hong Kong Homes, a sub-agent of British estate agency Knight Knox. The five-storey building is located in Great Homer Street on the edge of the city centre.

The developer, Oscar Developments, had tried to find a single buyer for the whole student block before marketing studios individually. It built City Point as offices in 2009 but could not get enough business tenants, so it is now turning the building into 176 student studio flats.

It will manage the building on completion and guarantees net yields of 8 per cent during an initial five-year rental period.

"City Point is one of the most exciting student developments we have in our portfolio, due to its proximity to both the Liverpool Hope University and Liverpool John Moores," said Kerry Yan, business development manager for Asia at Knight Knox.