How To Become a Student Landlord

Whether you’ve got some property in a student area, or you’re looking to invest in student rental properties, in this post we’ll share some hints and tips to help you get started as a student landlord.

At Uni2 Rent, we have a 100% success rate when it comes to helping student landlords let their rooms. Find out how our specialist support services will help you maximise your income on your investment properties.

How to Become a Student Landlord

Get To Know the Student Rental Market in Your Area

It’s not enough to simply purchase property in a student area and wait for the tenants to arrive. Students invariably secure their accommodation as far in advance as possible. For a term that begins in September, it’s not unusual for students to snap up their accommodation 10 months or more in advance, with most securing accommodation before Christmas for the following academic year.

Timing is everything. When it comes to purchasing and renovating your properties for students, make sure that everything’s ready for the time when students in your area start looking for accommodation. Otherwise, your property could sit empty for months.

Work Out Your Rental Yield

The rental yield is the amount you can earn from a property in relation to the property’s value. It’s a reliable measure of whether you’re getting a good return on your property investment.

Look at the average student rental prices in your area, or popular student areas around the UK, and compare them to the average property prices. Do a few rental yield calculations to work out whether becoming a student landlord would be a safe investment for you.

Read our full guide to rental yields for student landlords.

Do You Need an HMO Licence?

A House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) is any household that contains more than one “household”. That is, three or more unrelated people live in the house while sharing communal facilities such as a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Student properties often meet this criteria, which means that most student landlords have to meet a number of specific HMO rules and regulations.

You can read our full guide to HMO requirements and regulations.

As many of these regulations concern the sizes of bedrooms and communal areas, we’ve also put together a detailed guide to HMO space standards.

Understand Your Responsibilities as a Student Landlord

Beyond meeting your HMO requirements and regulations, you’ll have numerous additional obligations and responsibilities as a student landlord.

These include meeting UK safety regulations for rented properties, committing to ongoing maintenance and repairs, and providing sufficient notice before you visit an occupied property.

It’s vital to draw up a suitable tenancy agreement to clearly outline who is responsible for what in your student rental property. Put down in writing your obligations as a landlord along with any expectations your student tenants must meet.

Read our full guide to your responsibilities as a student landlord.

We’ve also got a guide to what rights a student has in a rental property, which you should find useful.

Attract Students To Your Property

What do students look for in their accommodation? A few things:

• Location – Somewhere near campus, or somewhere with good transport links. Students are also concerned with parking availability, noise and crime levels, and broadband speed.
• Size – Students like to live in groups of three to five people, as it can make rent more affordable, and living more fun.
• Furniture – Students tend to prefer furnished properties, which includes clean, functional high quality white goods such as fridge freezers, washing machines, and cookers.

Don’t assume that students will put up with any property at any price. Tick these boxes, and you’ll never struggle to attract students to your property.

Read our full guide to making your property attractive to students.

Tenant Referencing

First, it’s important to arrange for tenant referencing checks. This is an essential part of safeguarding your property, as it makes it more likely that you’ll attract sensible students who’ll keep your property in good condition, and who’ll never miss a rental payment.

You should also specify that your student tenants need a guarantor – someone who’ll step in and cover the rent on their behalf if they’re unable to.

Read our full guide to tenant referencing checks.

Finding Student Tenants

All that remains now is to find some student tenants for your property! You can take care of this yourself, of course. But it’s much, much easier to work with a letting agent.

Letting agents can manage all the legwork for you, from finding tenants for your property, to rent collection services, to fully managed services which include property inspections and ongoing maintenance and repairs.

Read our full guide to how letting agents make life easier for landlords.

Want to Become a Student Landlord in Nottingham?

At Uni 2 Rent, we have a 100% success rate when it comes to helping student landlords let their rooms. Find out how our specialist support services will help you maximise your income on your investment properties.