AGM Statement

Unite Group PLC
17 May 2007

17 May 2007


The UNITE Group plc
Chairman's AGM Statement


The UNITE Group plc, the UK's leading student hospitality company, is holding
its Annual General Meeting today at 9.30 am, The Core, 40 St. Thomas Street,
Bristol, BS1 6JZ. Highlights to be announced are as follows:

Acquisition and development

  • 10,256 beds in the pipeline for delivery 2008 to 2010, up 32% from 7,787
    beds at the year end 2006.
  • Acquisition in February of a £114.5 million portfolio of complementary
    assets in Liverpool, Sheffield, Manchester and Leicester.

Fund management

  • Successful second closing of the UNITE UK Student Accommodation Fund.

Portfolio performance

  • Room reservations for forthcoming academic year at 68% to the current
    date.

Geoffrey Maddrell, UNITE's Chairman, will review 2006 and 2007 progress, making
the following comments during the meeting:

'2006 was a landmark year for UNITE, underpinned by strong performance in all
areas of our business and the maturing of the student accommodation sector into
a widely recognised institutional grade asset class.  The key measure of our
business, adjusted fully diluted net asset value per share, increased by 17% to
425p.

A highlight of the year was the creation of UNITE's UK Student Accommodation
Fund (the 'Fund') for which UNITE acts as property and fund manager, and the
transformation of UNITE's business model to that of a co-investing fund and
asset manager and developer.  Following an over-subscribed second closing in
April 2007, attracting a 7.5% premium to initial issue price, the Fund is fully
now capitalised to reach its £1 billion investment target.  Following the second
closing, UNITE's stake in the Fund has reduced to 29.3%, representing a
co-investment equity stake of £72.7 million.

Alongside this important strategic move, we continued to expand our portfolio
throughout the year, stepping up our acquisition, planning and development
activity.  During 2006 we acquired 19 additional development properties worth an
estimated £461 million and secured 13 planning consents and successfully
completed, commissioned and opened nine properties for the 2006/07 academic
year, delivering a total of 3,519 new beds.   Of these, 63% were delivered using
the Group's modular manufacturing technology, up from 51% in 2005.  During the
course of the year we also further developed our modular capability to allow the
construction of eleven-storey buildings, an increase of the previous limit of
seven storeys and commenced the construction of two new projects utilising this
technology.

As already announced, progress in acquisition and development has been
maintained during the first four months of 2007.  In February we successfully
concluded the acquisition of a £114.5 million portfolio of complementary assets
from Base Limited and we have a robust pipeline of development projects, with
completion dates stretching through to 2010, providing predictable future
growth:
          
•    A total of 3,691 beds, worth an estimated £241 million on completion, are 
     scheduled to open later in 2007 across fifteen properties.

•    The total pipeline of secured beds for anticipated delivery in 2008 to 2010 
     now stands at 10,256 across 31 projects of which 2,878 are in the 
     strategically important market of London.

•    A number of the newly acquired London projects will be developed in UNITE's 
     Capital Cities joint venture with GIC Real Estate. As a result, the joint 
     venture's committed funds are now fully allocated to projects and all 
     future London developments will be undertaken on UNITE's balance sheet.

Demand for our accommodation remains strong and room reservations for the
forthcoming academic year are at 68% to the current date, compared to 70% at the
same point in 2006, in line with expectations across a larger direct let
portfolio.

In conclusion, UNITE's Board is pleased with your company's progress and the
success of our growth strategy. We are well set to achieve our strategy to
double net rent from the student accommodation portfolio over the next five
years and our ongoing commitment to lead our market and deliver shareholder
value continues to drive the business. We look forward to continued future
growth.'

END


For further details please contact:

Enquiries:

UNITE
Mark Allan, Chief Executive                                   0117 302 7000
Tabitha Aldrich-Smith                                         0117 302 7000

Financial Dynamics
Stephanie Highett / Dido Laurimore                            020 7831 3113

Notes to editors:
     
•    UNITE is the UK's leading student hospitality company.  Listed in the FTSE 
     250 index of the London Stock Exchange and managing a property portfolio of
     £1.6 billion located across the UK, the Group focuses on the provision and
     management of high quality, well-located student accommodation and 
     hospitality services in strong higher education markets.                                        

•    UNITE delivers the real student experience, whilst at the same time helping 
     to regenerate cities as part of the community and contributing to the
     improvement of the country's housing.  It undertakes the planning, 
     development and management of sites, often working closely with the 
     universities and colleges, to deliver accommodation for students across all 
     ages and nationalities. UNITE developments typically show high occupancy 
     levels and robust rental growth as demand continues to rise for places in 
     UK Higher Education and for safe, high quality accommodation for students.

Further information on UNITE is available at www.unite-group.co.uk


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange