The agreement is with private developer Manor Property Group, operating under the new Qdos student housing brand.
Lend Lease said that its project management and construction division would begin work on the first five locations this year.
These first five projects will comprise a total of 3,500 units and have a combined contract value of £240m.
They are located in the university cities of Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and Hull, with completion expected in 2015.
Manor Property Group and Lend Lease then plan to deliver additional sites comprising 36,500 units across the UK by 2020, taking the overall value of the deal to £1.5bn.
Further expansion of the programme will see the creation of Qdos developments in Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Durham, Nottingham and elsewhere. Between 10 and 15 sites are planned in central London alone.
Manor Property Group chairman William Addy said: “Qdos Student Homes will operate these developments so that they set a new benchmark for student housing across the country. By combining first class accommodation and on site services with a social network which will fulfil demand for a new standard in the student sector, Qdos will establish new levels of customer service for both undergraduates and graduates.
“Our objective is to deliver a revolution in student living with up to 40,000 units at 70 sites nationwide between now and 2020. Given the scale of our plans, partnering with Lend Lease was the logical step. Lend Lease has both a proven track record and capability to assist us in the delivery of the next generation in student accommodation.”
Lend Lease head of commercial management Tom Spilsted added: “We are excited to be working with Manor Properties and Qdos to deliver student accommodation of the highest standard. The Qdos model will raise the bar for this sector.”
Lend Lease CEO and managing director Steve McCann said “We are very pleased to have secured this agreement with Manor Property Group, which leverages the core capability of Lend Lease’s project management and construction business in the UK student accommodation sector, and adds to our construction work. We will continue to deliver third party work alongside our significant UK development pipeline.”
Lend Lease has previously worked for the University of Sheffield to deliver student accommodation totalling 4,000 beds through a combination of new build and refurbishment.
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