Letting your property out to students may sound like a harrowing prospect on the surface but is actually a well-worth and easily manageable investment. This is particularly the case if your properties are located in or around popular locations with students and where a higher education institution such as a University is located.
Before you begin to let your properties to students, you’ll need to make sure you’ve got the basics down and are ready to accommodate students by considering everything you will need.
Why should I let property to students?
Being a student is both exciting and terrifying. It’s a period of new beginnings, exploration, and an introduction to independence. Typically, first-year students will live in accommodation provided by their university or college institute and will begin to look for properties to rent at the end of their first year of studying.
By providing students with a safe, secure, and decent accommodation option, you’ll be helping them along their path of growth and introducing them to the world of adulthood. Your property will be their first real feeling of ‘home’ and their introduction to having the responsibility of looking after their own property.
Letting out property to students can also provide you as a landlord with potentially more benefits compared to traditional tenants:
- There’s typically always a high demand for student properties, especially for properties situated in locations popular with students such as Bath, Bristol, London, Coventry, Manchester, Edinburgh, etc.
- On average, students will usually let for 12 months which can take the weight off your shoulders for finding new tenants.
- You could potentially see an increased rental yield compared to that of traditional tenants as student properties will likely have multiple rooms, which can house multiple students.
Are there any negatives to letting to students?
Perhaps the most obvious negative is that typically student properties spend a little more in maintenance costs due to the increase in wear and tear. Whilst not all students are alike, it’s important to remember that this will likely be their first/one of their first proper introductions to responsibilities and independent living. It takes a little patience with students but it’s crucial that they are introduced to independent living and you’ll be one of the key characters who can help.
What types of properties should I rent to students?
This will vary from student to student, but typically, larger properties with plenty of rooms (3-4) and large open communal spaces such as a kitchen and living room are ideal. An additional toilet and/or bathroom is a bonus as it will help to accommodate the number of students renting your property.
A garden is not essential but beneficial. And having a house you can rent out to students that’s within walking distance or close to travel methods such as bus or train so that your tenants can easily get to and from their campus, social events, and shops is key for supporting them.
What furnishings will I need to provide?
Although not enforced by law, a student property should ideally be either fully furnished or part-furnished considering students will not be living in the property for the foreseeable future. Plus, students only have a limited budget which needs to be assigned to their study materials and other assets, which would not be cost-effective to put towards buying furniture that they would only use for a year or two.
You’ll need to consider adding the following furnishings to your property before letting to students:
- Kitchen appliances (oven, fridge freezer, washing machine, microwave)
- Bedroom and/or living room furniture (bed, wardrobe, desk, chair, sofa)
- Cleaning appliances and equipment (vacuum, lawn mower, indoor bins,
- Decor (carpets, curtains, lighting such as lamps)
None of these furnishings are anything unreasonable and all help to provide your tenants with a comfortable and decent living standard, which they are entitled to.
Even though providing these furnishings in student accommodation will help to serve all the tenants who will occupy the property, each bedroom that belongs to each student will almost act as their sanctuary. Help your student tenants to feel comfortable in their rooms by providing as much as possible. It does seem difficult to do this with limited space but there are ways you can achieve this whilst still saving space in these smaller rooms.
Are there any regulations to consider?
As you will almost certainly be letting to multiple tenants, it’s advisable to apply for a licence for the Houses in Multiple Occupations (HMO) legislation. A property is deemed as a house of multiple occupations if more than 3 tenants are living there and if facilities such as a kitchen or bathroom are shared/communal. You could face fines if not registering an HMO property for a licence.
Additionally, you should look into student landlord insurance to cover your property when letting it out to students. Most insurance types won’t be any different for students in particular but some may not cover student tenants, so it’s best to check and stay insured for any aspect of your property you want to cover, such as its condition.
Your property will be exempt from council tax if being occupied by full-time students. If you cannot provide proof of your tenant’s student status (achieved by asking for a Certificate of Student Status), your tenant or yourself may need to cover it.
How to uphold a good relationship with your tenants
Letting your property to students is of course a different avenue than that of renting out to other tenants but your responsibilities as a landlord will almost stay entirely the same. You’ll be responsible for keeping your properties’ occupants safe and secure and protecting them from any harm. As a landlord, you’ll be obliged to provide them with copies of important documents such as EPC, your contact details, deposit certificate if applicable, and more.
Related content:
https://aspiretomove.co.uk/blog/responsibilities-of-landlords-with-rental-properties/
In order to maintain a good relationship with your tenants, it’s advised to try and comply with some general good practices.
List your expectations from day one
Setting out clear expectations for your student tenants right from the offset will help with creating a strong starting point in building a relationship with your tenants. By defining very clearly what it is you expect from your tenants, there will be nothing ‘open to interpretation’.
Consider the following:
- What day is the rent due?
- How will an emergency be defined?
- How will repairs be handled? Who is responsible for what?
Communication is key
Your tenants need to know certain information that will help them with their first introduction to independent living. Communicating anything and everything that will guide them and keep them informed means you’ll be providing them with a clear understanding of how to tackle certain aspects that appear in any property.
For example, communicating things such as how to identify the right types of lightbulbs they need for the property fixtures or where they can locate the mains switch will keep your tenants informed on how they can tackle these elements independently. If you keep communication open and transparent, you and your tenants will have a more trustworthy relationship.
You could go a step further by providing a guide/booklet/document that lists these how-tos and guides.
Inspect the property from time to time
As students are younger and perhaps more vulnerable due to their inexperience, it’s important that you keep them safe and protected in your properties. A property inspection will allow you to keep on top of any occurring issues or risks within the property to spot and prevent them before they become worse. Just be sure to follow the standard property inspection regulations such as arranging times to conduct an inspection.
The tenant-landlord relationship is always documented in the media as a notoriously rocky one but we believe this is an easily patchable image that all comes down to balancing respect, understanding, and communication.
Start renting to students today
We work in partnership with different property agencies such as Rightmove and unihomes to help students find the perfect property for them during their study years. If you’re interested in renting a property or set of properties to students, we can assist with the process so that you can get the most out of it.
