Finding and attracting the right student tenant for your house depends primarily on two factors:
- The property.
- You!
The property
Getting the right tenant will be mainly determined by the type of property you have. A two-bedroomed city apartment may do the trick in attracting the affluent students but could put limitations on the competitiveness of the property in the student market.
What I have found to be most adaptable and suitable are two-bedroomed, three-bedroomed and four-bedroomed houses and in some cases, even a five-bedroomed or more house. My reasoning for this is simple – if I can’t find students to let it out to, then I could just as likely let it out to a family who are looking for such a property to rent.
The most popular, it would be safe to say, is the three-bedroomed terraced house which becomes a four-bedroomed property once the living room or dining room gets converted into a bedroom.
You
When I heard the word ‘students’, I used to automatically have an image of three chain-smoking, beer-swilling layabouts who would never pay me the rent! How accurate or not I was in my generalisation is not important. What
is important is how I want to run my property and what types of student tenants I want in there.
First and foremost, you have almost definitely bought this book as you are comfortable with letting your property out to predominantly 18-22 year olds.
Secondly, the kind of stereotype described above is in all honesty outdated and similar pictures could be painted of people from different walks of life!
Let’s not ignore the fact that if you let out to students, then you must be comfortable with the idea that three, four, five or even 12 or more (!) students in one house will inevitably lead to more wear and tear. You may have to refit the kitchen and bathroom every three to five years and lay new carpets every two to three years. The washing machine will be subject to heavy use and will need upgrading regularly.
Finally, bearing in mind that there is no longer a one-size-fits-all way of life within the student market, you must have a good idea of what type of student you want as your tenant. In general, student rent fluctuations are pretty flat compared to residential and professional lettings and it is fair to assume that the standard prices of rooms vary from £40 to say £80 a week.
Advertising
The best way of advertising your property is by:
- using online accommodation websites directed at students;
- liasing with and providing your information through the university housing office;
- contacting and advertising your property through the Students’ Union (a list of these is provided at the end of Chapter 7) and through the local newspapers.
Another more creative way of promoting your property is by sticking up information about it throughout the campus, but check to see if this is permissible with the university authorities first. Maybe the university library has a noticeboard or something similar whereby the students can take your contact details from a handy A4 piece of paper.
Every university has an accommodation office that will help students to find suitable privately rented accommodation. They also have other useful local information. The best way to find out how things work for each university area and private tenancy is to get in contact with the specific university’s accommodation office and get more information. All contact details have been provided for each university.
Some universities offer an affiliated landlord scheme. What this means is that they will let out your property as a university accredited building – giving the student a sense of security. For you, this is a definite plus in obtaining a student tenant – but will also be at a cost or fixed fee. It does not necessarily mean that they will collect the rent for you, nor will they show the prospective tenant around the house. For these kinds of services, look at ‘letting agents’ below.
Every student union also has a housing officer who is equipped to deal with everything from unhappiness with the room offered to problems with rent and advice on contracts or other legal difficulties with private landlords.