UNITE : Conversion of Securities

3 January 2017

THE UNITE GROUP PLC

('Unite Students', 'Unite', the 'Group', or the 'Company')

CONFIRMATION OF REIT STATUS

Unite Students, the UK's leading manager and developer of student accommodation, confirms that further to the resolution passed at the Company's General Meeting on 30 November 2016 which amended the Company's Articles of Association, it has converted to a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) effective from 1 January 2017.

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Unite Students Joe Lister, Chief Financial Officer Paul Richmond, Corporate Affairs Director	Tel: [phone]
Bell Pottinger Victoria Geoghegan Nick Lambert Elizabeth Snow	Tel: [phone]

Notes to editors:

About Unite Students

Unite Students is the UK's largest and most established manager and developer of purpose-built student accommodation. It provides a home for around 50,000 students, in more than 140 properties, across 28 leading university cities in England and Scotland. Unite works in partnership with more than 60 Higher Education institutions and also lets rooms directly to students.

Unite's purpose is to provide a home to its culturally-diverse customers, offering them a strong foundation for academic and personal success. The accommodation is high quality, safe and close to university campuses, transport links and local amenities. Students live in ensuite study bedrooms with rents covering all bills, insurance, 24-hour security, fortnightly cleaning of communal kitchens and bathrooms and high speed Wi-Fi.

Founded in 1991 in Bristol, The Unite Group plc is a FTSE250 company, listed on the London Stock Exchange, employing more than 1,250 people. It pursues a sustainable growth strategy, designed to make the most of the resilient nature of the student accommodation sector. Unite is focused on maintaining its position as the leading provider of student accommodation in the UK, by having the best brand, operating the highest quality portfolio and maintaining the strongest capital structure in the sector. This is achieved with consistent investment in, and improvement to, the operating platform; highly selective development activity and asset management initiatives.

Unite is invested in and operates a small number of specialist funds and joint ventures with institutional investment partners, the largest of which is the £2 billion Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF).

Unite is the founder and major donor of the Unite Foundation. Since 2012 this has provided free student accommodation and financial support to 160 young people in the UK who lack family support.

For more information you can visit Unite's corporate websitewww.unite-group.co.uk, the student site www.unite-students.comor the Unite Foundation site www.unitefoundation.co.uk.