A year of rapid growth for the agency loc8me means it now has a property management presence in 20 UK cities.

The acquisition of Mighty Student Living takes the Loughborough-founded company into its 20th university location.

Earlier this year it saw the acquisition of more than 1,100 beds in Liverpool and an increase from 600 to 1,500 beds in Nottingham.

All 19 Mighty Student Living employees will join loc8me, with founder Peter Charnley staying involved to support the transition.

Raffaele Russo, founder of loc8me, says the deal is a significant step in the company’s growth and backs the long-term future of student HMOs.

“We remain incredibly confident about the future of the student HMO market. There is still a huge role for high-quality shared student homes, and we want loc8me to continue investing in the people, businesses and university cities that make that market successful.”

Peter Charnley, founder of Mighty Student Living, adds: “When considering the future of the business, finding the right home for the team and our landlords was much more important to me than simply completing a deal.

“Mighty Student Living has been built on local relationships and knowing the Lancaster student market, and those aren’t things you want to lose as a business grows.

“For our landlords and students, there will still be familiar people here in Lancaster looking after them. I’m excited to see what the team can now achieve with loc8me behind them and I’m confident this is the right next chapter for Mighty Student Living.”