STUDENT accommodation group Mansion is targeting Liverpool for a five-fold expansion.

The Manchester-based firm, headed by Sheffield-born Paul Wildes, dipped its toe in the Liverpool market last January with the acquisition and refurbishment of a Georgian property in Mount Pleasant that was converted into a 43-bed site.

It was filled within a day and a half last year, which makes it the best-performing site in terms of lettings in Mansion’s six-strong 1,000-bed portfolio across Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol and Colchester.

And Mr Wildes said the firm is eager to increase its presence in the city as part of a focus on the top 30 university towns in the UK, with two or three properties around the Mount Pleasant area within their sights, which will add another 250 bed spaces by the end of this year.

However, he revealed that, in contrast to the depressed domestic residential market, the right kind of property was scarce in the student accommodation field.

“It is counter-cyclical. The student sector is making good money at the moment and people don’t want to sell, so property prices are going up.”

But, even in these straitened times, he says funding in the sector is not a problem: “We are cash generative, which means we can borrow effectively from banks.”

Mansion was formed two years ago, and Mr Wildes said its aim was to distinguish itself from its peers by offering students city centre living for their own mini-community at prices comparative to university halls.

Each property has daytime on-site maintenance and pastoral care, via a hospitality manager who provides a range of services from counselling to days out.

“We have a pastoral care ethos in the group,” said Mr Wildes. “Students are looking to get life experience as well as an education.

“Counselling is a big part of a hospitality manager’s job, being a ‘mum away from mum’.

“Days out could be anything from walks around Liverpool or a theme park visit.

“We try to build a community.” Offering four and six-bed clusters also helps build community spirit, said Mr Wildes. He said: “We get groups of friends who take a full flat.”

Mansion also arranges for visits by the police, fire brigade and banks to advise students on their own personal security and how to avoid fraud and ID theft.

The company says physical security is also a priority, and it features 24-hour CCTV and key and card access at all properties.