Despite prospects of tuition fees soaring to £9,000 per year in autumn 2012, investors in student property will still make money.

It is because the entire sector is likely to be privatised within a few years, says a new report.

Universities and colleges will be so hard up, says Knight Frank in its new report, that they are likely to complete a £500 million sell-off of existing halls of residence to private-sector investors in the next five years.

The agents also say changes to higher-education funding are "unlikely to deter student applications and intake significantly".

Although there could be a "one-off dip" in demand in 2012, it thinks "young people will continue to see the value of a graduate degree, particularly in a recession, when faced with an increasingly competitive employment market".

The changes mean that students will become consumers, with their payments deciding the survival of many universities and colleges, which will therefore have to focus on the provision of teaching and accommodation.

They will tend to leave the provision of student accommodation increasingly to the private sector.

In addition, fewer parents are buying flats for students for their university courses because prospects of capital gain over three or four years are much reduced.

Knight Frank says the biggest shortage in London is good value "en-suites" which earn £150 to £200 per week. The shortage in this sector at present is around 100,000, says the survey.

In regional centres, strongest demand is for high-end studios, often targeted by postgraduates and mature students.

The postgraduate sector could become much bigger business for colleges and landlords alike.

In 2009/10, around 56 per cent of the 298,000 full-time postgraduates studying in the UK were from overseas, and this figure is set to grow.

Knight Frank also says many more undergraduate courses will only last for two years.

It says: "Changing pattern in demand is likely to lead to a growing tendency for year-round tenancy periods, more cluster flats and fewer students sharing accommodation.

"There will also be a drive towards higher-specification units which will bear a close resemblance to private apartments rather than institutionalised accommodation as has been evident in the past."

In total, there are 66 university towns and cities across the UK, and Knight Frank has selected a "top 20", based on investment potential - taking into account factors including student and postgrad numbers, demand from foreign students, predicted growth in numbers, and the strength of the local economy.

The top five are London, Kingston in Surrey, Brighton, Edinburgh and Oxford.

"Each of the top five locations share a single characteristic," says the Knight Frank report.

"They all have a restricted supply of development land despite the recent recession and lending constraints."

The second tier of this "elite" includes York, Cambridge and Canterbury.