Tag: Landlord

Two good reasons to rent to students

Lesley Davis Leave a comment
Student demand for rental homes is high

New research published this week reveals good returns for landlords who buy properties near universities to rent to students. Good news for buy-to-let investors. But not everyone is keen to rent a home to students. Key issues are likely to be additional wear and tear on fixtures and fittings and the expectation that your property will be let fully furnished.

However, there are two good reasons to consider student tenants. First, demand for a rental property in university towns and cities is consistently high, and second, students are likely to want at least a 12-month contract, so you may not need to change tenants or market your property so frequently.

Despite the recent exam results fiasco and the prospect of Covid-driven online learning for many of this year’s under-graduates, demand is still expected to be high for student rentals. So which areas are currently generating the best yields? 

Landlord Today reported this week that “on average, university rental yields sit at 4.4% across the UK”. The most profitable returns are in Scotland, with best buys close to the University of Dundee where rental yields in the DD1 postcode could be as high as 7.2%. The University of Aberdeen comes in second with an average yield in the AB24 postcode at 6.8%, while the University of Strathclyde and the G1 postcode average rental yields of 6.6%.

In England, the University of Leicester is reported to be the best buy-to-let prospect. Yields average 6.6% in the LE1 postcode. Aston University in Birmingham also presents good rental opportunities (6.5%) together with the University of Leeds (6.41%), Nottingham Trent University (6.4%), Newcastle University (6.3%) and the University of Liverpool (6.1%). In Wales, Cardiff University has a yield of 5.9% in the CF10 postcode.

If you’re looking to buy a property with the intention of letting to students, we suggest looking for houses or flats with at least three bedrooms. Homes with good-sized or open-plan shared space and more than one bathroom are likely to have the most kerb appeal. And for obvious reasons, properties within walking distance of the university you choose are likely to be in demand.

If you are keen to market your rental home to students, why not do it via PlanetRent. Our automated lettings platform makes it easy for you to comply with all the regulations around letting a home in multiple occupation (HMO) and it already has a tie-in with Rightmove and Zoopla so you can promote your property on the UK’s two most popular portals on a pay-as-you-go basis. It’s all set up for you so, in just a few clicks, your home could be advertised to thousands of potential student occupiers in time for the start of the new academic year.

www.planetrent.co.uk

Why not READ our Property Blog: www.ringleypropertyblog.co.uk

Rental sector can’t meet demand for homes to let

Lesley Davis Leave a comment
As lockdown is eased, demand is currently outpacing supply, but London is seeing rents fall.

The rental sector is taking off again as lockdown restrictions are eased. But for renters, it’s very much a game of two halves. As we blogged yesterday, around 2.6 million renters are estimated to be in rent debt or likely to find themselves in arrears as a result of the pandemic. And landlords are feeling the financial fallout too. So unless they are able to come to suitable payment arrangements with their tenants, there could be a flood of evictions when the government lifts the repossession ban – currently scheduled for 25 June unless steps are taken to extend the embargo.

Clearly, this is bad news for tenants in financial hardship. But it may benefit those whose jobs have been unaffected by the pandemic and who now want to move, giving them more choice as those properties come back onto the market later in the year.

In London, property agent Chestertons explains that the outlook for landlords is being impacted by the fact that fewer people are willing or able to move to the capital due to the pandemic. The agency told Letting Agent Today that rents in London have dropped by between 10% and 15% as a result. Fewer students, fewer corporate rentals and tenants worried about their income are all making the situation worse, as is the trend for renters to try and negotiate lower rents with landlords, says Chestertons.

In the rest of the country, the story is a more positive one. According to Rightmove, demand for lettings is up by 22% compared to last year, with the online property specialist telling the BBC that the easing of lockdown has released “two months of pent-up tension”.

Lockdown break-ups, forced moves and the wish to relocate away from cities is driving the market, and the pandemic has left many people with “an immediate housing need” according to Rightmove. At the same time, buy-to-let landlords are exiting the market due to worries about finding financially sound tenants, while those that continue to let property are likely to be hand-picking the tenants with the best references and credit records. All this adds up to high demand for fewer rental homes. So we can expect to see rents rising and more people struggling to find an affordable home – unless we see that potential spate of evictions bringing many more rental properties onto the market.

The market is in an interesting place and, with coronavirus likely to be with us for some time to come, it’s hard to predict what the rest of the year will bring for landlords and tenants. What do you think?

www.planetrent.co.uk

Why not READ our Property Blog too: www.ringleypropertyblog.co.uk

Tenancy agreements made easy with PlanetRent

Lesley Davis Leave a comment
Produce tenancy agreements fast with PlanetRent

Tenancy agreements are either not read or are difficult to understand. Or at least that’s the way it looks from a report we spotted earlier this week in Landlord Today.

When renters have questions about their rights and responsibilities, they are turning to Google for the answers, says the article. No surprise there we hear you say. After all the internet is everyone’s first port of call if they need to know something.

But most of the questions being searched aren’t complicated – in fact, they are pretty basic. Clearly, tenants aren’t reading their rental agreement – or would rather not have the hassle of speaking to their letting agent or landlord to get an answer.

Research from Boiler Plan reveals the most common questions private renters asked Google in April. They were: 

  • Can landlords increase my rent – 3,200 Google searches
  • Can my landlord evict me – 1,880 Google searches
  • What are my responsibilities as a tenant – 1,600 Google searches
  • Can letting agents charge fees – 760 Google searches
  • Can my landlord keep my deposit – 550 Google searches
  • What are tenancy fees – 250 Google searches
  • Can you paint a rented house – 220 Google searches
  • Does the landlord have to fix my boiler – 130 Google searches
  • What repairs is the landlord responsible for– 110 Google searches

Our view is that tenants should always be asked to read their tenancy agreement and come back to the agent or landlord with the kinds of questions we’ve just listed. Some of these, such as issues around boilers, repairs and redecorating may not crop up until later in the tenancy but basic questions about rent, eviction and deposit monies should be ironed out right from the start. That way everyone knows where they stand.

Of course renters won’t read their agreement if it runs to 50 pages, so landlords should keep their paperwork short and to the point.

By using our new cloud-based letting platform PlanetRent, landlords can keep tenancy agreements simple. PlanetRent generates tenancy agreements in a matter of minutes, making them fast, accessible and easy to use.

PlanetRent is lettings automated. It puts you, the landlord, in the driving seat and helps you provide your tenant with everything they need to make their lettings journey simple and painless. We have a killer pricing model too. So why not check out PlanetRent today.

www.planetrent.co.uk

Why not READ our Property Blog too at www.ringleypropertyblog.co.uk