With A-Level exam results popping through the letter boxes of millions of would be university students this week, several reports from the letting industry show landlords who let out their properties to students are bullish about their business prospects in the coming year.
The student rental market has been an important part of the letting sector for many years and leading buy-to-let lenders Paragon report their customers in this sector are very confident of their prospects, with 76% saying demand for their properties is excellent. And research by BDRC Continental showed over 70% of landlords saying they expect to invest further on properties aimed at the student market.
Paragon’s Managing Director, John Heron, was unsurprised by the findings of the research, saying “The student rental market is one of the largest specialist components of the private rented sector. Letting student property is appealing to landlords as they usually benefit from higher than average rental yields as rooms tend to be let on an individual basis. There are generally lower levels of arrears too as student tenancy agreements benefit from parental guarantees. Landlords who let a proportion of their portfolio to students are feeling positive about the market and their experience of letting to students continues to be good. This is an area of the private rented sector which will continue to thrive as long as the demand for university places continues.”
Heron’s views are reflected by landlords in the latest PRS Survey which revealed 71% of landlords regarded students as excellent in terms of punctuality with rental payment and over half saying students were excellent tenant’s altogether. It is true to say about a quarter of landlords in the PRS survey said students did not leave a property in good condition but landlords can get good property insurance simply by comparing prices online, which should cover any major damage, and accepting that there is work to do at the end of a tenancy is fine if the property is proving to be a lucrative asset.