Student Lettings
Discussion
Is anyone into Student Lettings here?
My sister is a student at Uni and currently looking at places ~£70pw for 48 weeks of the year (£3360pa). Most of these are 3 bed properties which would generate £10k pa.
Because these student houses tend to be in the less desirable areas, I've found a few <£100k.
That doesn't seem too bad a return? I'm currently getting just over 5% return on my (non property) investments. I would assume the house would need a basic redec every year (or budget for it anyway.)
I am considering going to look at a few properties initially to house my sister + two of her friends but it does seem an interesting market to get into?
I have a background in property management/lettings but have never dabbled with students! Should I step backwards and run away fast?
My sister is a student at Uni and currently looking at places ~£70pw for 48 weeks of the year (£3360pa). Most of these are 3 bed properties which would generate £10k pa.
Because these student houses tend to be in the less desirable areas, I've found a few <£100k.
That doesn't seem too bad a return? I'm currently getting just over 5% return on my (non property) investments. I would assume the house would need a basic redec every year (or budget for it anyway.)
I am considering going to look at a few properties initially to house my sister + two of her friends but it does seem an interesting market to get into?
I have a background in property management/lettings but have never dabbled with students! Should I step backwards and run away fast?
We have a student let in Manchester. I live there with four friends and my Dad is the landlord. One thing I'd advise is to check with your local council what your obligations as landlord are, as our obligations for our student property are much stricter than for our non-student properties.
For example, our house is classed as an HMO. This means it requires a whole host of fire prevention materials, as well as a full fire alarm system and emergency lighting. For a 5 bed property that came to around £5k. By the time the whole place had been furnished to a decent level and to the safety standards required, you're looking at around £15-20k outlay.
Also, there is a phenomenal amount of wear and tear compared to most lets. Remember, students only spend a couple of hours a day at uni - rest of the time they're in the house. For example, our dishwasher has broken five times and the washing machine twice (neither have been abused - but they are on almost continually). Luckily they are protected by five year warranties, but it's still a load of hassle for landlord and tenants to arrange for repairs/someone to be in.
My housemates are very careful and I would say much more considerate than 99% of students. Even so, most of the communal areas will need repainting annually. I've seen other student houses which will basically need gutting and starting again every year; I assume tenants will lose their deposits, but again, hassle.
Unless I (landlord's son) was living there or the landlord was very local to the property, we would need a letting agent to take care of any problems that arose. From what I've heard, they are fiendishly expensive and not particularly efficient in the vast majority of student areas. Simple jobs such as a sticky door lock mean they call an engineer and bill the landlord - couple of hundred quid for a simple five minute job.
So, returns are good. But go into it aware that you might get nice students who treat the place as their own (as my housemates do), or you might get students who have all night parties every day and trash the place. Either way, it's about five times more work compared to our non-student properties!
For example, our house is classed as an HMO. This means it requires a whole host of fire prevention materials, as well as a full fire alarm system and emergency lighting. For a 5 bed property that came to around £5k. By the time the whole place had been furnished to a decent level and to the safety standards required, you're looking at around £15-20k outlay.
Also, there is a phenomenal amount of wear and tear compared to most lets. Remember, students only spend a couple of hours a day at uni - rest of the time they're in the house. For example, our dishwasher has broken five times and the washing machine twice (neither have been abused - but they are on almost continually). Luckily they are protected by five year warranties, but it's still a load of hassle for landlord and tenants to arrange for repairs/someone to be in.
My housemates are very careful and I would say much more considerate than 99% of students. Even so, most of the communal areas will need repainting annually. I've seen other student houses which will basically need gutting and starting again every year; I assume tenants will lose their deposits, but again, hassle.
Unless I (landlord's son) was living there or the landlord was very local to the property, we would need a letting agent to take care of any problems that arose. From what I've heard, they are fiendishly expensive and not particularly efficient in the vast majority of student areas. Simple jobs such as a sticky door lock mean they call an engineer and bill the landlord - couple of hundred quid for a simple five minute job.
So, returns are good. But go into it aware that you might get nice students who treat the place as their own (as my housemates do), or you might get students who have all night parties every day and trash the place. Either way, it's about five times more work compared to our non-student properties!
wiffmaster said:
Remember, students only spend a couple of hours a day at uni - rest of the time they're in the house.
Jeez, it's worse than I thought - when I was a student we were out for 6-8 hours a day - but of course degrees were difficult then 
wiffmaster said:
For example, our dishwasher has broken five times
Dishwasher?! Make the f
kers use a brush and some Fairy Liquid - or is that against their human rights now?Simpo Two said:
Jeez, it's worse than I thought - when I was a student we were out for 6-8 hours a day - but of course degrees were difficult then
The variation between courses is extraordinary. I'm in for anything from just nine hours a week, up to thirty hours a week. My housemate only has five hours a week, and that's all on the one day. She only needs to go in on Thursdays! Simpo Two said:
Dishwasher?! Make the fkers use a brush and some Fairy Liquid - or is that against their human rights now?
Please, washing up by hand is so lower-middle class.;)kers use a brush and some Fairy Liquid - or is that against their human rights now?No, the only reason we have one is that the house is new and came with a dishwasher pre-installed. There's no way we would have installed one otherwise.
OP
My son used these people last year.
He was in his second year, first year spent in halls that were more expensive and no where near the quality.
They were very good, house was very nice, all mod cons etc.
The way they dealt with my son was excellent, I would highly recommend them.
The only problem he had with than was that they mucked up the DD so he had to go to their office to remind them that they had not taken his rent, they always told him it wasn't a problem and they would sort it out.
I think it took them 6 months to sort it out.
Only problem now is that he decided that it would be even cheaper living at home.
My son used these people last year.
He was in his second year, first year spent in halls that were more expensive and no where near the quality.
They were very good, house was very nice, all mod cons etc.
The way they dealt with my son was excellent, I would highly recommend them.
The only problem he had with than was that they mucked up the DD so he had to go to their office to remind them that they had not taken his rent, they always told him it wasn't a problem and they would sort it out.
I think it took them 6 months to sort it out.
Only problem now is that he decided that it would be even cheaper living at home.
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