Just under two million students (1.9 million) were enrolled at university in Italy (in-person and remote attendance) in the 2022-2023 academic year, accounting for 3.2% of the country’s total resident population. 40.5% of these students, i.e. 670,000, have moved away from home to study at university. And this group has a basic need: housing. This issue is extremely relevant, especially at universities with a bigger student population living away from home, and namely Milan and Rome, followed by Turin and Bologna. This is the reason why the government, as well as public and private institutions and market operators are working to guarantee student housing that can meet this growing need.
This is the picture which emerged during the “Italia Chiama Europa” conference held in Milan on Thursday 11 July at the Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli by the consulting company Scenari Immobiliari, for sector operators and attended by Manuela Manenti, the Special Commissioner for University Housing of the Ministry of University and Research (MUR).
While the Ministry has set a target of 60,000 new accommodation places, thanks to funding from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) – with the Roadshow promoted by Cassa Depositi e Prestitiin partnership with the Ministry being launched in the last few weeks, to tour 13 Italian universities - the CDP Group, through CDP Real Asset Sgr, has been pivotal in giving the market concrete answers since 2010. Student Housing, as Filippo Catena, Head of the Social Housing Fund (FIA) pointed out in his speech, along with Social and Senior accommodation (the “3S”) is one of the foundations of CDP RA’s Strategic Plan, which has the ambitious goal of providing 10,000 beds for Italian students. This is a clear approach, that so far has led to some 200 million in funds managed by third-party Asset Management Companies, for 6,500 accommodation places.
How was is possible to achieve this strategic goal? By developing public/private partnerships, and the concept of university halls of residence as an incubator for a widespread design capability and engine for sustainable urban regeneration. In its role as anchor investor, and also as the “spark” lighting up design capabilities nationwide, CDP Real Asset, as a truly patient, long-term investor, has been successful in its goal of creating, encouraging and developing a new real estate segment, and paving the way for initiatives achieved through real estate funds that so far have raised 500 million euro, besides attracting new institutional and other investors, such as the European Investment Fund (EIF), that are now supporting asset management companies already active on the market, ready to increase funding to set up new construction sites.