Investors are being invited to back a £10m fund-raise for a company buying up HMOs, refurbishing them if necessary, and letting and managing them afterwards.

Student Tribe sees the opportunity because of changes in the buy-to-let market.

Student Tribe was established in 2016 by CEO Calum MacInnes in response to the often poor standard of privately-owned shared student housing he saw when his children went to university.

Its portfolio currently consists of 15 properties in Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham, and will now add 27 homes in Manchester.

Student Tribe aims to continue adding to its portfolio over the next five years to build a brand with scale in an otherwise fragmented market.

It said it expects a good pipeline of prospective acquisitions as smaller players exit the market, due to increasingly onerous HMO licensing requirements.

The company also says that while the market for private halls of residence for first-year students has matured, the HMO market for second and third-year students has attracted much less investment.

Connection Capital, an investment fund manager, is offering the fund-raise to investors.

Managing partner Claire Madden said: “Student numbers have remained robust even during the financial crisis and recession and despite rising tuition fees.

“And while returns do have some correlation to the UK residential housing market, more stringent HMO licensing restrictions have created limited supply, making HMO values more resilient to market downturns.”