Dubai has urgent need to boost student accommodation, say experts

There is a growing demand for more and better student accommodation in Dubai, as the emirate works towards significantly increasing its international student body in line with government ambitions, experts have said.

Dubai's Education 33 strategy sets a target of international students at 50 per cent of all private university enrolment by 2033, up about 15 per cent from today.

As of the 2024-25 academic year, international students made up around 35 per cent of Dubai’s private higher education student body, according to statistics from the Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 14,709 out of 42,026.

As universities across the UAE expand their international intakes and new campuses open, including two in the 2026-27 academic year, the shortage of quality, purpose-built student accommodation is emerging as an obstacle to the strategy’s goals.

“Accommodation was historically on the fringe of the conversation and has only recently moved up the agenda, with a sharper focus on the higher education market,” said Prof Gisela Loehlein, academic director and head of faculty technology, arts and culture at De Montfort University Dubai, which has close to 1,500 students.

“Students tell us they would welcome a stronger sense of student community: shared flats, flatmate matching and communal living options are all things they ask for.”

Gap in the market

Most students want to live as close to campus as possible but also as affordably as possible, “and those two priorities often pull in opposite directions”, added Ms Loehlein. “The result is longer commutes, which is equally true for our staff.”

For most students who cannot access university-managed housing, the default is the private rental market – shared apartments, informal subletting arrangements and shifting costs month to month.

Osaja Jafri, 22, who studies at Heriot-Watt University in Dubai's Knowledge Park, lives at home with his parents for this reason. “If student accommodation was affordable and located within a convenient five to 15-minute maximum distance from the university, I would definitely choose to live there,” he said.

“The main issues are that housing is either poorly located far away from universities, or priced too high for the area, compounded by a lack of flexible, reliable transportation. While a higher price can be acceptable, it needs to be justified by offering valuable extra benefits and amenities, such as an on-site gym, a pool and proper student community facilities.”

Amit Arora, chief operating officer at Arada Hospitality and Entertainment, which operates Nest, a purpose-built student community in Sharjah's Aljada development, agreed that the principal gap in the market is quality purpose-built accommodation at mid-market prices. “Most students who can't access premium options end up in shared private apartments, where informal subletting, variable costs and limited support create uncertainty.”

Show caption: A view from a balcony at The Nest in Sharjah. Photo: Arada

Located in Aljada, 10 minutes from University City Sharjah – home to one of the largest concentrations of higher education institutions in the Middle East – Nest provides more than 3,000 beds across 10 buildings, with separate male and female facilities. The University of Sharjah accounts for about one third of the community, with institutional partnerships bringing entire cohorts from colleges, universities and academies across the region. The campus also houses Air Arabia cadets, trainee pilots and athletes from Sharjah Sports Club.

Geographically speaking, the shortage of student accommodation is sharpest outside Dubai's main university clusters, said Mr Arora. “Particularly in Sharjah and the Northern Emirates, where provision is thin … our priority is to increase occupancy at the existing Aljada campus while enhancing the resident experience. We have also extended the brand to meet short-stay demand from families, faculty, delegates and corporate guests. The adjacent 395-room Nest Hotel has recorded occupancy above 85 per cent in recent months.”

Facilities that meet requirements are also in short supply across the UAE. For example, families increasingly want gender-segregated environments and genuine well-being support, said Mr Arora. Meanwhile, institutions are looking for managed accommodation partners who can take on the operational burden, rather than committing capital to building and running residences themselves. “This is a model that also leaves short-stay needs – from exchange programmes and summer schools to visiting faculty – largely unmet,” he added.

Opportunity for developers

Zacky Sajjad, director of business development and client relations at real estate advisory firm Cavendish Maxwell, said student accommodation is a growing opportunity for property developers in the region.

“The UAE's higher education sector has expanded considerably, with a growing university ecosystem and ambitions to attract more students from across the Middle East, Africa, Asia and further afield,” he said.

“As that population grows and becomes increasingly international, there is a logical opportunity for professionally managed accommodation designed specifically around student needs, incorporating community, security, amenities, technology and study facilities.”

Show caption: Zacky Sajjad, director of business development and client re…

The wider picture, Mr Sajjad argues, reflects a structural change in how the Gulf Co-operation Council's real estate market is evolving.

“For much of the past decade, the GCC's residential and hospitality story has been dominated by luxury, with branded residences, five-star hotels and increasingly ambitious mixed-use developments helping cities like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh stake their claim on the global investment map,” he said.

'The next 10 years are likely to see co-living across several concepts, with market fundamentals underscoring the demand.”

For investors, the gap in student accommodation offers portfolio diversification and income supported by long-term demographic and education trends, rather than solely by the conventional property cycle, said Mr Arora.

He highlighted three conditions that will determine how quickly institutional capital follows. “The first is better data: the market lacks transparent, widely available information on supply, demand and student mobility,” he said.

“The second is long-term university partnerships and, in particular, nomination and lease agreements that give investors clearer visibility over income. The third is scale and distribution: operators with diversified demand are better placed.”

It is also about more than mere supply and demand, said Ms Loehlein. “A campus environment thrives on close community cohesion. When students and staff live near campus, the campus 'feel' that follows is not merely social: it is what drives market forces, entrepreneurship and the informal exchange of ideas.”