VIABILITY STATEMENT The Directors have assessed the viability of the Group over a five-year period to December 2030, taking account of the Group’s current position and the potential impact of its principal risks. The Directors consider the five-year lookout period to be the most appropriate as this aligns with the Group’s own strategic planning period combined with the levels of planning certainty that can be derived from the development pipeline. The viability assessment has been prepared including the impact of the Group’s acquisition of Empiric Student Property plc in January 2026. The Directors believe that high tariff UK universities will continue to experience strong demand from students as UK 18-year-old demographic growth becomes increasingly favourable and UCAS acceptances rise. The Group has an annual business planning process, which comprises a Strategic Plan, a financial forecast for the current year and a financial projection for the forthcoming five years (which includes stress testing, scenario planning and covenant adherence). This plan is reviewed each year by the Board as part of its strategy setting process. Once approved by the Board, the plan is cascaded across the Group and provides a basis for setting all detailed financial budgets and strategic actions that are subsequently used by the Board to monitor performance. The forecast performance outlook is also used by the Remuneration Committee to establish the targets for the annual and longer-term incentive schemes. To stress test the viability of the business, a viability scenario was prepared using the Group’s Strategic Plan as a base. The key viability assumptions were: • Income growth reduced to 1% p.a., reflecting principal risks 1 and 4. • Cost growth of 5% p.a., allowing for further sustained increases in utility and other costs. • Yield expansion of 75bps, approximately a 15% decline in asset values, reflecting principal risk 8. • Interest costs of 7% on all new and refinancing activity, reflecting principal risk 9. • No further development commitments, disposals or acquisitions, reflecting principal risks 3 and 4. The result of this scenario showed a significant deterioration in forecast performance, with earnings and NTA significantly reduced (to 37.9p and 787p respectively) in 2030 while LTV increased substantially to 42%. Despite the significant contraction in the size of the business over the forecast period, the business would remain viable under such a scenario. We considered whether the Group’s climate change principal risk would impact our assessment of the Group’s viability but concurred that as we have an ongoing programme of capital investment to achieve our science-based net zero target by 2030, this mitigated the risk sufficiently for this viability assessment. Following recent visa policy changes aimed at reducing net migration, the UK is less attractive for international postgraduate taught students who can no longer bring dependent family members to the UK, however we have experienced limited impact from the changes as our rooms are single occupancy. In addition, Home Office data shows 7% growth in applications for study visas in the year to August 2025, and the outlook for international demand remains encouraging thanks to growing student mobility and the increasing attractiveness of the UK as a study destination as competitor markets introduce more restrictive policies. The Group achieved 95% occupancy for the 2025/26 academic year and has a strong outlook for 2026/27. International student demand is not expected to impact the longer-term viability of the Group. The financing risks of the Group are considered to have the greatest immediate potential impact on the Group’s financial viability. The three principal financing risks for the Group are: • short-term debt covenant compliance • the Group’s ability to arrange new debt/ replace expiring debt facilities • any adverse interest rate movements. To hedge against the potential of adverse interest rate movements the Group manages its exposure with a combination of fixed rate facilities and using interest rate swaps for its floating rate debt. During the year, the Group has complied with all covenant requirements attached to its financing facilities and expects to continue to do so. The outlook and future prospects beyond the viability period for the business remain strong, reflecting the underlying strength of student demand, our alignment to the strongest universities and the capabilities of our best-in-class operating platform. There are significant growth opportunities for the business created by the ongoing shortage of high quality and affordable PBSA, universities needing to deliver an exceptional student experience through their accommodation and the growing awareness of the benefits of PBSA among non-first-year students. Emerging risks to the outlook and prospects are identified and assessed through our broader risk management process. Based on their assessment and the mitigating actions available, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group will be able to continue in operation and meet its liabilities as they fall due over the period to December 2030. RISK MANAGEMENT continued THE UNITE GROUP PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025 62 STRATEGIC REPORT