NEWCOURT SUBSIDIARY Ely Property is set to pay £22.5 million (€28.2 million) for a development site for student accommodation near London Metropolitan University.

The Dublin-quoted group announced yesterday that it had agreed to buy the development site on Fieldgate Street near the third-level institution.

Newcourt said the deal was subject to Ely getting suitable planning permission.

The company is seeking permission for 678 accommodation units over nine floors in a mixed-use development that will incorporate retail units on the ground floor.

The accommodation units are a mix of flats, studios and en suite rooms with access to shared facilities.

London Metropolitan University has a student population of 17,000, and the site is approximately a 15 minute walk to University College London, the London School of Economics and King's College and Imperial College, with a combined estimated student population of 60,000.

In a statement yesterday, Philip Marley, Ely Property chief executive, said London was a key market, and the Fieldgate site was the second the company had acquired this year. It brought to almost 900 the number of beds in the planning process in London.