Experts Weigh In – Student Housing Market Breakdown

Student housing has emerged as one of the most resilient sectors in real estate, driven by rising enrollment at many primary public schools, limited on-campus supply, and strong pre-leasing activity. However, as investors, developers, and operators navigate shifting market conditions and consumer sentiment, sustainability is increasingly being recognized as a central strategy to boost asset performance, long-term value, and resident well-being.

From addressing energy intensity and meeting evolving performance standards to aligning with the priorities of a values-driven generation, the sector is redefining success around strategies that deliver both measurable returns and meaningful impact. This evolution calls for innovative solutions that meet operational demands while creating value for students, universities, and local neighborhoods.

To explore how sustainability is shaping the future of student housing, BREEAM USA recently hosted a webinar with industry leaders sharing insights on growth drivers, evolving expectations, and practical approaches to building resilient, future-ready communities.

Panelists included:

Cope Willis, Managing Director of Sustainability, Greystar
Rebecca Roberts, Vice President of Research, Harrison Street
Barry Howard, Founder, Core Spaces

The discussion — moderated by BREEAM’s U.S. Director of Operations, Breana Wheeler — highlighted how the student housing market is evolving and where sustainability strategies can unlock both economic and environmental value. Key insights included:

The structure of student housing investments can help determine both financial outcomes and the scope of sustainability initiatives.

“[On-campus and off-campus housing] typically have a different investment structure,” said Rebecca Roberts. “For on-campus, you have a public-private partnership where the demand is driven by, let's say, a university that has a lot of deferred maintenance, but they need to put their capital towards other things, such as academic initiatives. They may partner with a student housing developer to build an on-campus property. With this, there's often a ground lease with built-in rent escalations, so there's a little more predictability in terms of what you can capture. However, you're not going to get some of that really high rent growth that we saw for off-campus assets recently.”

“Your strategies differ based on your level of control and whether you're on- or off-campus,” shared Cope Willis. “A lot of times at on-campus properties, you can set point controls on the thermostat. Whereas in an off-campus property, you typically can't do those kinds of [energy-saving] interventions…But today, sustainability is a bit of a broader topic and can encompass environmental, social, and governance topics. For example, for [Greystar’s] student housing portfolio, wellness and mental health is something we consider [an important] issue. We have programs that we've designed within our student housing communities to engage our residents [in this way].”
Investor interest in student housing sustainability is growing, but success depends on education and linking performance goals to financial returns.

“I don't know that investors totally appreciate the complexity of student housing and the nuances in terms of energy intensity and the operational differences that impact the sustainability performance of the [asset class],” said Cope Willis. “They want the performance of traditional residential buildings, but it takes education, discussion, and engagement with investors. Ultimately, investors, just like they would any other real estate asset class, want [to track] net zero, climate performance, climate resiliency, green building – those are all top of mind, particularly on the environmental sustainability front.”

“Returns are an important [consideration] in terms of sustainability,” added Barry Howard. “If you’re leading with an economic argument, the environmental initiatives are going to have a very easy runway to get done. So [Core Spaces] has approached this as an NOI generator… and I think that’s really where the crossroads of the long-term vision of investors is. Having that pressure from the economic [side], you can marry those two by thinking through the cost of operating your buildings…Another buzzword we haven’t mentioned yet is building performance standards. Some of the markets where we have properties, like Denver, Washington D.C., and New York, have certain energy or carbon performance standards for buildings. If we don’t meet them, we’re going to have to start paying fines, and that has implications on operating income.”
Student housing success depends on more than design and operations — it requires education, collaboration, and respect for local communities.

“Communication with local stakeholders is really important,” said Rebecca Roberts. “Some of that is helping educate local stakeholders about the benefits that a student housing property can provide to the community. For example, [when] the student asset comes in, this is adding to the total housing stock. So when you have a lot of students living in this property, those students are not competing with others for workforce housing in the shadow market. You're reducing competition there.”

“As developers, [Core Spaces] is hypersensitive to the idea that each of these student university areas has a unique local culture…So we usually partner with local professionals in the space who know how to chart it well,” added Barry Howard. “We also want to be a responsible builder that is in line with the local aesthetics and the local architecture. We like to listen to the stakeholders in the community, because if we're a long-term holder, having community touchpoints sets the relationship off on a stronger foot. Whether it be local vendors catering our events, having bus stops [at the property], including thoughtful landscaping [and design], that kind of thing really goes a long way to foster goodwill.”