New PBSA Burnet Point, Edinburgh, reaches topping out milestone

A major milestone has been reached in the construction of Burnet Point, a new £59 million purpose-built student accommodation development at Abbey Lane, Edinburgh. The topping-out ceremony, celebrating progress on the scheme, was recently attended by representatives from developer Unite Students and construction contractor GRAHAM.   

Burnet Point combines purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) and affordable housing, with the project on track for completion ahead of the 2025/26 academic term. 

Edinburgh continues to experience significant demand for student housing, with almost 20% of the city’s population enrolled in further or higher education¹. However, there is a substantial PBSA shortfall, with an estimated need for a further 17,000 beds to meet current demand².  

Burnet Point will help to alleviate this requirement, providing 298 student bedrooms in a mix of cluster and studio flats alongside 66 one-, two-, and three-bedroom flats, and 17 affordable units managed by Hillcrest Homes.  

Designed with sustainability at its core, Burnet Point incorporates low-carbon concrete and timber composite materials. Carbon lifecycle assessments show that Burnet Point will be Unite Students’ lowest carbon new build project to date.  

Tom Brewerton, Group Development Director at Unite Students, said: “We’re thrilled to reach this milestone at Burnet Point. This marks a significant step in delivering high-quality and affordable accommodation to help meet the supply challenges in Edinburgh, one of the UK’s most vibrant university cities. 

“Once open, this property will help free up privately rented homes in the city for use by families, reducing housing shortage pressures. We’re committed to providing students with safe and secure homes that enhance the local community and offer access to support if needed.” 

Gary Holmes, Regional Managing Director at GRAHAM Building North, said: “Burnet Point showcases our expertise in sustainable construction and mixed-use developments. The topping-out ceremony highlights the collective effort of all partners involved, and we look forward to completing the next stages as we bring this exciting development to life.” 

ENDS 

Notes to editors 

For enquiries, please contact the press office on 0117 4506300 or email: press.office@unitestudents.com

1 – City of Edinburgh Council, 2023 – https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/student-housing-engagement/  

2 – Savills, 2024 – https://www.savills.co.uk/blog/article/358493/commercial-property/uk-cities-need-much-higher-rates-of-student-housing-delivery.aspx  

About Unite Students
Unite Students is the UK’s largest owner, manager, and developer of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) serving the country’s world-leading higher education sector. We provide homes to 68,000 students across 153 properties in 23 leading university towns and cities. We currently partner with over 60 universities across the UK.  

Our people are driven by a common purpose: to provide a ‘Home for Success’ for the students who live with us. Unite Students’ accommodation is safe and secure, high quality, and affordable. Students live predominantly in en-suite study bedrooms with rents covering all bills, insurance, 24-hour security and high-speed Wi-Fi.   

We are committed to raising standards in the student accommodation sector for our customers, investors, and employees. Our Sustainability Strategy includes a commitment to become net zero carbon across our operations and developments by 2030. It includes our Sustainable Construction Framework, which outlines our approach for reducing embodied carbon.  

Founded in 1991 in Bristol, the Unite Group is an award-winning Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), listed on the London Stock Exchange. For more information, visit Unite Group’s corporate website www.unitegroup.com or the Unite Students’ site www.unitestudents.com. 

About GRAHAM   

GRAHAM is a privately owned, national construction and development company with a £1.125bn turnover, operating from a network of 17 regional offices throughout the UK and Ireland, employing a workforce of 2,500.  

Focused on a sustainable growth model, GRAHAM has a healthy £2bn+ pipeline of secured work in its core market sectors (building, civil engineering, interior fit-out, facilities management and development management). 

The foundation of this success is its exemplary people development strategy, framed within a culture of Fairness, Inclusion & Respect. GRAHAM continues to make substantial investments in the skills and development of its people and supply chain and was the first UK organisation to achieve Investors in People (IIP) “We invest in Wellbeing Platinum” status.   GRAHAM was accredited by IIP with “We invest in People Platinum” for the third time in 2024 and was also awarded “Investor in Diversity Gold”, securing top position in the Top 100 Inclusive UK Employers Index 2024, as well as  the prestigious titles of Organisation of the Year and Construction Company of the Year. 

Reflecting the Group’s guiding principle, “delivering lasting impact”, GRAHAM has generated a £538.4m Social Economic Return on Investment (SROI) and is on course to achieve its target of Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2030 (direct emissions). 

For more information, visit the website: www.graham.co.uk