The University of Tasmania’s proposition to build a new campus at Inveresk is scheduled to commence construction by the end of 2017. The vision of the new campus is to ‘transform the city into a university city’ by bringing the Launceston campus closer to the CBD. The campus will host 16 000 staff and students once building works are completed and is projected to attract a further 10 000 new students over the next decade. CBD-located campuses also create spaces that mean that all members of the community – not just students – can benefit from the facilities.

What does this have to do with the property market in Launceston?

At this stage, the only student accommodation established by the University is the 120-bed accommodation development at Inveresk, which is already in use. This means that a majority of students (and staff) will be seeking private accommodation, largely in the form of rental properties.

A large focus on the development of the campus has been on establishing easy pedestrian, bike and public transport access – students will want to live within close proximity to the campus as these facilities give them the opportunity to be able to walk/ride or catch buses to and from the campus, eliminating the need of vehicle ownership for students.

The property market in Invermay has already seen an increase in activity since the announcement of the campus relocation with properties selling in as little as 1 day on market and we are expecting this activity to only increase as the construction on the campus furthers. The area is offering a good opportunity to investors to purchase properties that will be…

• Easily lettable due to their location (proximity to the new University campus)
• Sought after by a demographic who are generally popular, good tenants
• Likely to enjoy long term capital gains

The campus relocation is projected to create 2760 new jobs and inject $965 million into the local economy during construction.