Student housing provider Unite names new chief executive
Student housing provider Unite has announced that chief executive Richard Smith is stepping down after seven years leading the business.
Smith, 49, will be replaced by Joe Lister, who has been chief financial officer since 2008. He will take the helm on 1 January.
Smith’s tenure saw the company expand significantly, with 157 properties now owned across 23 university towns and cities in the UK. The company joined the FTSE 100 in 2022.
Richard Huntingford, who chairs Unite, said Smith had been “a driving force behind our successful strategy of aligning to the best universities where demand is highest and building Unite into a purpose-led, responsible business”.
Incoming boss Lister, 52, who joined the company in 2002, said: “Unite Students is poised to enter a significant period of opportunity, uniquely positioned to grow our platform and tackle the shortfall of suitable accommodation for students.”
The announcement came alongside a bullish trading update from the firm, which announced record 99.7 per cent occupancy for the 2023-24 academic year, alongside 7.3 per cent rental growth on the back of the “ongoing strength of student demand”.
The accommodation provider added that a shortage of purpose built-student accommodation and “retreating” house of multiple occupancy (HMO) sector puts its current rental growth forecast for the next academic year at 5 per cent.
Departing chief Smith, who was paid £866,000 last year, said: “The UK is increasingly short of suitable student accommodation as HMO landlords continue to leave the market at pace.”
He added: “The strong letting performance increases our confidence in delivering at least 5% rental growth for the 2024/25 sales cycle and supports our property valuations as the market adjusts to an environment of higher interest rates.”
Smith, who joined the business in 2010 as deputy chief financial officer, will remain as an adviser to the board until September next year.
A number of other C-suite changes are in the pipeline, including the appointment of Michael Burt and Katherine Grafton — both longtime Unite employees — as chief financial officer and deputy chief financial officer respectively.
The group has performed strongly this year — with half-year earnings of £110.2m against £96m in the same period a year earlier — despite wider macroeconomic challenges. Moody’s recently upgraded its credit rating to Baa1 from Baa2 following a successful £300m capital raise.
It also recently announced a new 800-bed development at Central Quay in Glasgow, which took its total pipeline to 5,600 beds.
Unite’s share rose 1.3 per cent to 891p in early trading.