Student lettings agency loc8me has acquired Liverpool-based Luxury Student Homes (LSH), adding more than 1,100 beds to its national portfolio.
The transaction brings 199 student properties under loc8me’s management and increases its Liverpool portfolio from around 400 beds to nearly 1,500.
Following the acquisition, Liverpool becomes one of loc8me’s largest regional markets outside the Midlands. The deal takes the company’s total portfolio close to 10,000 rooms across 19 university cities.
Liverpool is home to more than 70,000 students across three universities and continues to see sustained demand for private student housing alongside growth in Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA).
Luxury Student Homes, co-founded in 2014 by Neil Colquhoun, has built a portfolio of shared student housing across Liverpool over the past decade. Colquhoun will remain involved in the business for the next five years to support the transition.
All 25 staff members, including 10 office-based employees, will join loc8me. No immediate operational changes are planned for landlords or tenants.
The acquisition reflects ongoing consolidation in the student HMO sector, with larger operators increasingly absorbing regional portfolios as landlords seek wider management support and compliance capability across multiple university cities.
Raffaele Russo, founder of loc8me, said: “Liverpool has become a hugely important city for us over the last few years, and this acquisition significantly strengthens our presence in one of the UK’s busiest student markets.
“Luxury Student Homes has built a strong reputation locally over a long period of time, and bringing that together with loc8me allows us to combine local expertise with the support, systems and consistency of a growing national platform.
“As regulation continues to evolve, we’re seeing more student landlords move towards experienced operators who can deliver high standards consistently for both students and property owners. For us, this is about continuing to invest in key university cities and building long-term stability within the student HMO sector.”
