Bristol student accommodation firm Unite has struck a £200 million deal to develop three central London halls of residence.

The firm, started by Nick Porter in 1993, established a five-year joint venture with Oasis Capital Bank from Bahrain to develop three student accommodation properties in London with an estimated completion value of £194m.

Oasis has bought a 75 per cent stake in the joint venture, investing £39m, with Unite holding the remaining 25 per cent.

Unite's three properties under development, amounting to 1,119 beds, will be immediately sold to the joint venture for £88.2m

The three properties are Lavington Street, a 230-bed development on the South Bank near the Tate Modern, James Leicester Hall, a 573-bed development next to Caledonian Road underground station and 301 Holloway Road, a 316-bed development in Islington.

Unite has raised more than £500m of third party equity for its co-investment vehicles since 2005. As well as the joint venture with Oasis it manages and co-invests in three other vehicles: the Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund, the Unite Capital Cities joint venture and the Unite Student Village joint venture.

Unite chief executive Mark Allan said: "The creation of joint ventures is a very effective way for the company to maximise returns for shareholders whilst managing the company's development exposure.

"Building on our strong track record in the creation and management of co-investment vehicles, our joint venture with Oasis demonstrates both our ability to raise strategic capital and the ongoing attractiveness of student accommodation as an asset class to institutional investors.

"London is an attractive market because of its demand/supply imbalance; over 250,000 full-time students, but only 46,000 purpose-built bed spaces."

In June, Unite struck a deal with The Mansion Group, based in Manchester, selling it a 157-bed building in Hotwells, its second in the city.

Maintenance works are planned for the summer and a full refurbishment of the property will be undertaken for the 2010/11 academic year.