Colin has the right expertise to help you enhance your student accommodation or Build-To-Rent property.

Offering his clients insightful investment and funding advice, Colin is driven by his client’s success. He works with institutional investors, property companies and private equity funds, with particular expertise in student accommodation and PRS/BTR, co-ordinating a specialist team within Bidwells.

Including Clarendon Shopping Centre in Oxford and Mount Pleasant Halls in Cambridge, Colin’s team has advised on over £1bn of projects, ranging from contemporary and innovative new build schemes to Grade I listed buildings. 

Among his impressive portfolio of work sits Grosvenor House, a £68.8m student accommodation block let to London School of Economics (LSE) on Covent Garden’s Drury Lane. The Team are currently assisting Aberdeen Standard with its asset management business plan, enhancing the accommodation and drastically increasing the fund’s net income.  

Colin’s multi-disciplinary student accommodation work was recognised nationally at the Student Accommodation Awards, where his team were named ‘Highly Commended’ for Agent of the Year.  

Colin is MRICS accredited.

We were impressed with Bidwells' unique knowledge of the sector, Colin Summers’ delightful to work with and we trust him unconditionally.
Hugh Leggat - Portfolio Manager, Aberdeen Standard Investments.

Experience

01

Capital Markets

Your proactive partner – guiding each strategic move
02

Investment, Development Funding and JV

Uncover high-value opportunities in the UK's most exciting and competitive markets.
03

Operational Living

Build a high-performance rental portfolio for 21st century living
04

Student

Powerful insights and development support from PBSA’s leading consultants

Our insights

Build to rent Insights 01.06.18

Build to Rent is a term used to describe private rented residential property, which is designed for rent instead of for sale.

What is Build to Rent?

Read more
13. Houses and apartments Insights 19.08.18

The Private Rented Sector (PRS) is a classification of housing in the UK. The basic Private Rented Sector definition is: property owned by a landlord and leased to a tenant. The landlord, in this case, could be an individual, a property company or an institutional investor. The tenants would either deal directly with an individual landlord, or alternatively with a management company or estate agency caring for the property on behalf of the landlord.

What is the Private Rented Sector?

Read more
Private Rented Property Insights 04.06.18

PRS property, or Private Rented Sector property, is a classification of housing in the UK. PRS properties are owned by landlords, who can either be individuals or companies, and leased out to tenants. Other UK housing tenure classifications are: housing association, council housing, and the owner-occupancy (home ownership).

What are PRS Properties?

Read more
CSP
Project

Harrington House, Stoke Mandeville, Aylesbury

Harrington House is let to Bucks NHS Trust for a further year and is currently used as staff and student accommodation for workers at the nearby Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

Harrington House Stoke Mandeville - Final Brochure
Project

Prime Colchester Student Accommodation Development

Moorfield Group has entered into a JV development agreement with Melberry Developments to fund a 282 bed PBSA development in Colchester

Colchester deal
Project

Saxon Court, Milton Keynes

Socius Development Ltd has acquired Saxon Court in Milton Keynes, a landmark office building with adjacent development site. Funded by Patron Capital, the pan-European institutional real estate investor, Socius Development Ltd is planning to create a new Grade A office hub with flexible workspace, Build-to-Rent homes, retail and community spaces in the heart of the city.

Image of Saxon-Court-scheme-Milton-Keynes-First-Base-BTR-News
Project

Monterey Mews, London, W10

A 1980s developed mews comprising nine houses converted into 53 HMO bed spaces. The mews is accessed via a private gate and benefits from nine car parking spaces.

Monterey Mews 3
Project

Dundee Street, Edinburgh

Located close to Edinburgh Napier University campus with permission for 79 en-suite clusters and 137 studios.

162-174 Dundee Street, Edinburgh
Project

St Clare House, Ipswich

Town centre office building comprising circa 77,000 sq ft let to the Secretary of State for the Environment (HMRC) until July 2023, with a tenant break clause in 2021. Passing rent of £695,000 per annum.

St Clare House, Ipswich
Project

Shopwhyke Road, Portfield, Chichester

Prime freehold development site just outside of Chichester city centre and within walking distance (circa 25 minutes) to the station. Site area totals circa 5.31 acres gross (circa 2.15 hectares gross). The site currently has outline planning permission for 521 student beds. Alternative uses include residential, build to rent, senior living or trade counter, subject to obtaining the necessary planning consents.

Shopwhyke Road, Portfield, Chichester
Project

The Mill House, Edinburgh

Bidwells acted for the vendors, Maven Capital Partners and IP Investment Management. The building has been 100% let since it was opened in 2017 and offers high quality en-suite and studio accommodation. It provides 257 bedrooms comprising 227 en-suites and 30 studios, plus circa 5,200 sq ft of ground floor retail. The purchaser was the Malaysian Pension Fund, KWAP, advised by 90 North.

Mill House, Edinburgh
Project

New Dover Road, Canterbury

The buildings comprise the majority of the CATS College Canterbury campus, a leading international boarding and summer language school, operated by Cambridge Education Group on a 25-year lease with RPI uplifts.

New Dover Road, Canterbury
Project

Marketgait Apartments, Dundee

Bidwells acted for the vendor, Maven Capital Partners. The building was 100% let for the 2017 and 2018 academic years. The building provides 116 high quality beds comprising 22 en-suites and 94 studios. The purchaser was a Kuwaiti investment company, advised by 90 North.

Marketgait Apartments, Dundee
Project

Grosvenor House, Drury Lane, London, WC2

Bidwells acted for the purchaser, Standard Life Assurance Ltd, and advised throughout the complex legal process, offering additional building surveying and planning services.

Grosvenor House, Drury Lane, London
Project

Mount Pleasant Halls, Cambridge

Bidwells provided detailed local market knowledge and wider sector specific advice, including cash flow analytics and development funding. Let to St Edmund's College, this highly secure income stream was exactly what L&G was seeking to acquire to hedge its annuity liabilities.

Mount Pleasant Halls
Project

CB1

Ambitious developer Brookgate set out to transform Cambridge’s fading train station area by delivering Lord Roger’s visionary 1.6m sq ft CB1 master plan. They needed more than just a team of consultants.

Microsoft Building, CB1 1
Project

MK Gateway

Mixed-use development evangelists Socius really get the knowledge economy. They know that cities like Cambridge, Oxford and Milton Keynes are powered by the collaboration of the people living and working there and their shared quest for knowledge and discovery.

MK Gateway CGI FINAL

Contact Colin Summers

Thank you for your message, we'll be in touch soon.

By submitting this form you agree to the terms of ourĀ Privacy Policy.

Meet other members of Colin Summers' team:

Meet our experts

Search Bidwells