Article Written by Universal21 Property Consultants
What One Group of Arab Investors finds so Irresistible about Turkey’s Student Revolution
Revolution has swept across the Arab world, yet one revolution has gone largely unnoticed.
It is a silent revolution that is slowly transforming Turkey and its major cities and it is being backed by Turkey’s own government.
As a result of this, there has been a surge in interest from investors from the Arab world and is only just beginning to be noticed by investors from Western Europe.
This revolution is all about higher education
Abraaj Group, an investment firm from the UAE have invested an undisclosed sum in two high rise student property buildings in the Istanbul student areas of Ortakoy and Buyucekmece. This may be just the start.
The reason Istanbul’s student campuses are attracting so much attention is the Turkish government’s commitment to attracting more international students into the country and local students.
You could say the education revolution in Turkey is already underway.
The chart below reveals the number of foreign students arriving to study in Turkey has more than doubled since 2006.
The number of universities in Turkey has mushroomed to accommodate this doubling of the overseas student population and a 40% local increase during this period, with 50 new universities established since 2006.
Istanbul alone is home to 44 universities with a student population of around 1.5 million students.
Turkey is hoping to gain a share of the world’s lucrative overseas student market which is on course to number 7 million students globally by 2020. The target set by the country is to host 150,000 of these students by 2020.
The problem for Istanbul is how to accommodate this sort of increase within the next 7 years. There are few dedicated properties on campus which means that there is a significant opportunity for property investors to buy-to-let student property in Istanbul at half the price of equivalent property in the UK.
The benefits of investing in student property in the UK are well known, however according to Istanbul Property Consultants Universal21, little is known about the vast potential of Istanbul in comparison.
“A student studio in Istanbul can be purchased for around £32,000 compared to a similar property in the UK which would cost in the region of £60,000.
The shortage of good quality furnished accommodation for students in Istanbul means that yields can be as high as 8% and some developers and property management companies are confident enough to offer a rental guarantee for 5 years, after which, investors can exit without being liable for Capital gains tax!” added Adil Yaman of Universal21.
“The market in Istanbul is much bigger than in the UK and for the last few years student property has potentially been the best investment in the UK, imagine the potential here in Istanbul where there is very little student accommodation or campus space and 44 universities to fill!”