Co-living and student accommodation feasibility, London
Feasibility estimates, benchmarking and viability testing that tell you whether a co-living or purpose-built student scheme stacks up before you commit capital, and that hold through planning.
Feasibility work that survives planning and funding scrutiny
Co-living and purpose-built student accommodation are amenity-heavy, operationally driven asset classes with limited published cost data. The feasibility case has to convince a landowner, a planning committee and, later, an institutional funder, and it has to still be true when the design has moved on. NNODI Group carries out the quantity surveying side of that case from acquisition onwards.
- Feasibility estimates and the development budget at acquisition stage
- Benchmarking of co-living and student rates against comparable London schemes
- Viability testing of mixed-tenure structures, including on-site affordable packages that underpin the Section 106 negotiation
- Option testing of scale, massing, height and tenure balance as the design evolves
- Cost input to BREEAM and WELL commitments, so targets are adopted with their cost understood
- Building contract negotiation into forward-funding structures, including JCT Design and Build on a gross maximum price basis
Developers, joint ventures and funders of London residential schemes
Developers acquiring or repositioning sites for co-living, student or mixed-tenure housing; joint-venture partners who need one budget that both sides trust; registered providers and funders reviewing a scheme’s numbers.
Numbers a committee and a funder can rely on.
As a firm regulated by RICS, our feasibility work follows recognised professional standards, with a chartered surveyor accountable for it. Scope and fee are agreed before we start.
Four consented schemes, published with our clients’ consent
From acquisition estimate to contracted delivery
Acquisition. A feasibility estimate and development budget that a bid, a joint-venture agreement and a landowner negotiation can be built on, with the affordable and public-realm elements visible on their own terms rather than buried in a blended rate.
Planning. Benchmarking against comparable London schemes, viability testing of the tenure mix and the affordable package, and option testing as the design responds to officers, committee and consultation. The aim is a position that does not have to be re-argued when the Section 106 is negotiated.
Funding and procurement. Analysis of the contract sum against the scheme budget, negotiation of price and terms with the contractor on the employer’s behalf, and alignment of the concluded contract with the funder’s requirements, so institutional due diligence accepts the risk allocation first time.
We work London-wide and across the UK, on site and remotely, as an extension of your team.
Co-living and student feasibility: frequently asked questions
How early should a quantity surveyor be involved in a co-living scheme?
At acquisition. The development budget set at that point underpins the offer for the site, the affordable package and the planning case, and everything that follows is tested against it. Involving cost advice after the offer has been made means negotiating from a number nobody has checked.
What does a feasibility study for a co-living or student scheme include?
A feasibility estimate and development budget, benchmarking against comparable London schemes, viability testing of the tenure structure including any affordable homes or workspace, and option testing of scale, massing and tenure balance. Where sustainability targets such as BREEAM or WELL are proposed, we cost them so they are adopted with their implications understood.
Can a consented residential scheme be repositioned as student accommodation?
Sometimes, where the massing and height envelope support it and the location matches educational and housing need. At High Road, Leyton, a residential consent that could not be delivered viably was appraised against a 261-bed student scheme within a similar envelope, and the repositioned scheme was approved in 2025.
Do you work on forward-funded schemes?
Yes. At Clarendon Road, Wood Green, we negotiated the JCT Design and Build contract on the employer’s behalf within a gross maximum price forward-funding structure, and institutional due diligence accepted the risk allocation.
Which areas do you cover?
The schemes above are in Brent, Waltham Forest, Haringey and Croydon. We work across London, the South East and the wider UK.
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Talk to us about your project
Tell us what you are planning and where it is. Scope and fee are agreed before anything starts, and a director replies within one working day. Call 0800 699 0777 or send an enquiry.
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