Providing sustainable housing for students in Poland

Poland has the sixth-highest number of students in higher education in Europe. The current student housing stock mainly consists of university-owned dormitories and limited private accommodation offered by local individuals and small-scale private investors.

But now the EBRD is supporting the development of a network of privately owned, purpose-built student housing in Poland. A loan in local currency worth up to the equivalent of €27.1 million to a Polish-owned company controlled and managed by Griffin Real Estate and Oaktree Capital Group will finance a portfolio of student housing assets and developments. These will be located in Łodź, Lublin, Poznań, Warsaw and other Polish cities.

The student housing projects will be designed to be as energy efficient as possible. This is particularly significant given that buildings are estimated to be responsible for 41 per cent of energy consumption and 36 per cent of CO₂ emissions in Poland. Griffin will operate the assets in a sustainable manner and will implement a community engagement plan to encourage students to save energy.