Far East Orchard acquires Manchester student scheme for £11m

The Singaporean investor has bought a site off Plymouth Grove with planning permission for a 239-studio PBSA development branded as Apex.

WUKPG, which secured planning permission for the project, sold the site to Far East Orchard for £11.5m.

The Plymouth Grove buy marks Far East Orchard’s entrance into Manchester. The scheme is the second acquired through the investor’s FESAD fund, which Far East Orchard holds a 50% stake in, following the purchase of land in Glasgow last year for a 273-bed project.

Aurum Investments – a wholly-owned subsidiary of Woh Hup Holdings – and an unrelated third-party own 21.4% and 28.6% respectively.

Once developed, the Manchester scheme will be operated by Homes for Students, which Far East Orchard acquired last year.

FEO group chief executive Alan Tang, said, “The venture into Manchester is an exciting move into a new UK city for the Group’s PBSA business segment, and we are pleased to continue this journey with Woh Hup through the fund we established in 2024.

“We will continue to source for suitable and quality PBSA development opportunities within cities in the UK with favourable demand and supply dynamics and to supply student accommodations to plug the growing demand gap.”

Oliver Lipson, managing director at vendor WUKPG, said: “WUKPG has successfully formed a strong relationship with Woh Hup, Singapore’s largest private construction and civil engineering contractors.

“With their partners Far East Orchard they will ensure the highest building standards, innovative construction solutions and efficiencies to navigate the path through the latest BSA, HRB Government Gateway submissions and BS9991 compliance to deliver FEO’s first PBSA development in Manchester following their acquisition of Apex, Plymouth Grove.

“We look forward to exploring new PBSA opportunities together as a strategic UK partnership.”

Cushman & Wakefield acted for WUKPG.