WELLGATE HOUSE, COWGATE,
EDINBURGH EH1 1NQ

Opportunity

Product

All 59 student beds at Wellgate House are en-suite and finished to a high standard with ¾ sized beds and laminate flooring throughout. Bathrooms are of traditional construction with high quality vitreous fittings. Lighting is fully LED and heating and hot water is supplied from a central gas CHP engine. All rooms are double glazed with secondary acoustic glazing.

Each room is data cabled and broadband internet is provided by CableCom. Satellite television is provided to each kitchen and studio. Charges for these services, along with utilities, TV licences and Endsleigh contents insurance are included in the rent.

There is an on-site laundry operated by Circuit Laundry and secure bicycle storage. There are two car parking spaces used by the management.

The property is let on a direct let basis, although for the current year 22 rooms were leased to the University of Edinburgh.

Rents for the forthcoming year are to be set to achieve at least £485,000, and fully stabilised gross rental income is expected to exceed £510,000 by September 2013.

In addition there is the potential rental income from the commercial unit, which at just over 2,000 sq or conversion to further student accommodation. Ziggurat is currently seeking planning consent for the conversion of this space to further student rooms.

Letting Performance

Rents for the 2011/12 academic year at Wellgate House have been agreed as follows:

In addition to the term time rents, Edinburgh offers a unique summer letting opportunity capitalising on the Edinburgh International Arts Festival and The Fringe market.

Ziggurat has entered into a three year Management Agreement (two years left to run) (hyperlink) with Destiny Scotland which provides certainty of income for each August and profits from July activity. Last August resulted in £40,000 of net income, and this coming August guarantees a figure of £42,500. A copy of this document can be found in the downloads tab here.

The property is fully let for the current academic year. The gross rent achieved is in excess of £460,000. The Ziggurat rental offer schedule for 2012/13 can be downloaded here.

Management & Personal

Management & Personal - The building is currently managed by Ziggurat Student Living (Wellgate) LLP.

For the 2011/12 academic year one off FM costs have been budgeted for. The yearly costs are expected to be stabilised over the forthcoming years in line with comparable buildings. An estimated schedule of costs can be seen in the download tab here.

Ziggurat Student Living (Wellgate) LLP is managing the building under a standard inter-company lease (VAT Lease). The Members of Ziggurat (Wellgate) LLP are replicated Partners in Ziggurat Student Living (Wellgate) LLP, so this structure does not complicate any sale arrangements, but offers a purchaser the option to retain Ziggurat Student Living (Wellgate) LLP as managers.

Ziggurat (Wellgate) LLP and Ziggurat Student Living (Wellgate) LLP are lead by Jim Pike & Matthew McAdden.