| Now the university year is in full swing, the | | | | image of Rick, Neil and Vivian, other |
| latest studies of the state of the student | | | | students are taking matters a step further. |
| segment of the buy-to-let home market have | | | | Research by Abbey National has found that |
| been carried out. The news which has emerged | | | | students and their parents are not just being |
| is of changes to the nature of the market | | | | the customers of buy-to-let but are |
| which landlords need to be aware of if they | | | | increasingly joining the ranks of owners. The |
| are to stay ahead in what is an increasingly | | | | bank found that 88,000 students already live |
| lucrative business. | | | | in their own place while studying at |
| | | | university, a quarter of whom are living in |
| That it is lucrative is not in doubt, with | | | | places that their parents have bought for |
| research published earlier this year by | | | | them to stay in. The new buy-to-let |
| Landlord Mortgages showing average student | | | | investors, it seems, are either Mum and Dad, |
| buy-to-let yields were 6.59 per cent, | | | | or the students themselves, whose ownership |
| compared with 5.42 per cent for the rest, | | | | of a property in a university town, either |
| while buy-to-let firm Paragon found that | | | | alone or in partnership with friends, opens |
| landlords with student lets on their books | | | | up their own chance to be landlords. |
| averaged yields of seven per cent, while | | | | |
| those who did not only saw yields of 5.6 per | | | | Commenting on this development, Abbey's head |
| cent. | | | | of mortgages Nici Audhlam Gardiner said: |
| | | | "Britain's student population continues to be |
| So far this year, real estate agency Hamptons | | | | a source of income for buy-to-let property |
| International has found that not only is | | | | investors, many of whom are parents of the |
| demand strong, but also restrictions on | | | | students or the students themselves." |
| supply have seen an increase in the | | | | |
| proportion of students renewing their | | | | She added some advice for these new |
| tenancies, a phenomenon at odds with the rest | | | | investors, should they take out a buy-to-let |
| of the buy-to-let market, hotproperty.co.uk | | | | mortgage: "The key issue with any mortgage, |
| reports. | | | | but a buy-to-let one in particular, is |
| | | | affordability. People considering it need to |
| In addition to this, there is increased | | | | make sure that they can afford the mortgage |
| demand for quality, far from the outdated | | | | payments plus any maintenance costs, service |
| stereotype of the hit comedy The Young Ones. | | | | charges and down-time between tenancies that |
| Rather than dirty digs with rising damp, | | | | they will also need to cover." |
| there is an increasing desire to live in a | | | | |
| high standard of accommodation. "Students are | | | | But while these new investors get their own |
| increasingly savvy when it comes to getting | | | | advice, existing buy-to-let landlords looking |
| in early to secure their ideal property," | | | | to get into the student market need to be |
| said Hamptons spokesperson Melanie Williams. | | | | clued up as well. The message is clear that |
| | | | students want a better quality of decor and |
| She added that students were willing to pay a | | | | facilities than was perhaps once the case. |
| good rate of rent for properties, which were | | | | Moreover, if the landlords don't meet that |
| well decorated and had modern kitchens and | | | | demand, there are others - including |
| bathrooms. | | | | entrepreneurial students themselves - who |
| | | | will. As ever, knowing the market well is the |
| But if some are failing to live up to the | | | | key. |