Unite Students has sold £184m worth of university accommodation to property investment firm, PGIM Real Estate.

The deal includes six sites scattered across Birmingham, Cardiff, Leicester, Liverpool, Nottingham, and Sheffield, with a total of 2,948 beds and averaging 18 years in age.

The company aims to align more closely with ‘high and mid-ranked universities which have the strongest outlook for student demand’, according to Unite’s strategy.

As Britain’s leading developer dedicated to student living, Bristol-headquartered Unite houses about 70,000 students annually in 23 towns and cities that are home to universities.

PGIM Real Estate is the property investment arm of the US life insurance giant, Prudential.

Unite said the sales are priced at the properties’ book value, and that proceeds will go into asset management activity.

Joe Lister, Unite’s chief executive, added: “These disposals continue our disciplined approach of recycling capital for reinvestment and further increases our alignment to the strongest universities.

“The growth outlook for purpose-built student accommodation remains compelling and we are tracking a number of new investment opportunities at attractive returns.”

Previously in April, Unite reported that it had pre-booked 86% of its bed spaces for the upcoming September academic year, amid what Lister described as an ‘acute shortage’ of student accommodation.

And just weeks ago Unite revealed a pipeline of new developments valued at £1.3bn.