Hines, a real estate investment manager, has acquired six prime student housing development sites in the UK from McLaren Property for a group of German pension funds.

Hines has forward funded the portfolio, valued at approximately £150m, which comprises six development sites in Cambridge, Oxford, Kingston, Aberdeen and two locations in Brighton, and which will deliver more than 1,100 student beds in total.

Alex Knapp, Hines Managing Director, said: "We have been waiting for the right opportunity to enter the student housing market. The combination of McLaren's strong track record and the rare opportunity to secure a portfolio comprising assets in such prime locations make this a perfect entry for us into this exciting market sector. We look forward to working with McLaren to ensure the success of this cornerstone acquisition."

Planning consent to develop purpose-built student accommodation has already been secured on four sites, with approval on the remaining two expected later this year.

John Gatley, Managing Director for McLaren Property, said:  "We are delighted to have established this relationship with Hines, and we hope to continue to develop further opportunities together. The student accommodation sector has performed exceptionally well, and we expect it to continue to do so. This transaction represents the latest tranche of our total development portfolio of circa 4000 units, and we remain active in securing further developments and investment opportunities in this sector."

Construction work is expected to begin imminently, with the developments expected to complete in 2017 and 2018.