LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Multi-occupancy property developer Watkin Jones announced on Tuesday that it has exchanged contracts to forward-sell a 618 student bed development in Pittodrie, Aberdeen to an unnamed institutional investor.
The AIM-traded company said the consideration payable to Watkin Jones over the course of the development, which was due for completion in the summer of 2019, is around £51.1m net of client funding costs.

Following the agreement, Watkin Jones had now forward sold 2,599 of the 3,545 beds planned to be delivered during FY19, ahead of the 2019/2020 academic year.

All schemes planned to be delivered during FY17 had now been successfully handed over, the board confirmed, and all schemes due to be delivered during FY18 and ahead of the 2018/19 academic year had been forward sold.

In addition, Watkin Jones also announced the forward sale of the office element of its major project on Christchurch Road in Bournemouth for £15.3m net of client funding costs.

It said that forward sale completed the exit for the group of the Christchurch Road development.

The development included 454 beds of student accommodation, which were completed and handed over in August, as well as 129 hotel rooms for Premier Inn that had been forward sold.

Completion of the Premier Inn was targeted for January 2018 and the office building for May 2018.

"The demand for high quality purpose built student accommodation remains strong and the group continues to secure, forward sell and develop a diverse pipeline of high quality sites, providing excellent earnings visibility for our shareholders," said chief executive Mark Watkin Jones.

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