Directorate Change

Unite Group PLC
1 March 2004

Date:                         1 March 2004

On behalf of:                 The UNITE Group plc ('UNITE')

Embargoed until:              0700 hours



The UNITE Group plc

STUART BEEVOR JOINS BOARD OF UNITE

The Board of The UNITE Group plc, the UK's leading provider of student
accommodation, is pleased to announce the appointment of Stuart Beevor as a
non-executive director with immediate effect.

Stuart, 47, is a member of the Board and Group Fund Management Director of
Grosvenor Group Limited, the international property group, which he joined in
2002.  Prior to joining Grosvenor, he was Managing Director at Legal and General
Property Limited, having previously held a number of roles dealing with
development, investment, property management and unitised funds at Norwich
Union.  Stuart is a representative of the Investment Property Forum and the RICS
on the UK REIT industry working group and is a Trustee of the Investment
Property Forum Educational Trust.  He is past Chairman of the Investment
Property Forum, a past member of the Property Advisory Group of the Office of
the Deputy Prime Minister and previously a member of the external examination
board of the College of Estate Management.

Stuart replaces Baroness Usha Prashar of Runnymede CBE, who is retiring from the
Board after the completion of her three-year term of appointment.

Commenting on these changes, Geoffrey Maddrell, Chairman of UNITE, said:

'We are delighted that Stuart has agreed to join the UNITE Board. He brings a
breadth of knowledge of the property industry and his experience will be
particularly helpful in developing our strategy to maximise the value of our
existing property portfolio.

'I would like to thank Usha warmly for her considerable contribution to the
Board and to the Company in our important early years as a fully listed company.
She has given us wise counsel and a sense of balance in pursuing our
commercial and public service objectives.'

There are no further details required to be disclosed in relation to paragraph
16.4 of the Financial Services Authority Listing Rules.


Enquiries:

Geoffrey Maddrell, Chairman
Nicholas Porter, Chief Executive
The UNITE Group plc                                     Tel: [phone]


Redleaf Communications Ltd                              Tel: [phone] /
Emma Kane                                                    [phone]


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