The report highlighted a 40% increase in students securing their accommodation in January, year on year.
Despite the significant increase in purpose built student accommodation, especially in Liverpool, there has also seen a 35% rise in students looking for HMO accommodation. The firm’s research shows that students are looking for high quality, shared accommodation, with good internet access and affordable bills, in good locations close to the campus and properties meeting these criteria’s are becoming harder to find, Rents are also up, with rises of between 5-10% in the last 2 years.
This comes at a time when the domestic student population is continuing to expand, with UCAS reporting that they are expecting an all-time high of 500,000 applications this year.
Mish Liyanage, Managing Director of The Mistoria Group explains: “Looking at the big picture, we anticipated this year to be tough as the amount of purpose built student accommodation available is at an all-time high. But quite the reverse has been true. We have experienced a surge in demand for our student properties much earlier in the year, as students look to secure better properties. Usually we see an increase in student applicants in January, but this year we have seen huge demand in November and December.
We know that the most important considerations for students when choosing rental accommodation is space, location and price, in that order. In the last couple of months we have seen the more expensive newly renovated properties rented first. This trend for renting early for the next year is set to continue, as those students that left their house hunting until later will realise that their fellow students who rented early, have secured far better accommodation in better areas.
Managing and letting student accommodation is becoming a more and more specialist service. Unlike residential lets, when one tenant moves out and another moves in, student letting is more about planning for the year ahead, marketing in November to March for tenants to move in September.
Without doubt, the student rental market is the most financially lucrative for landlords if it is managed well. However, if landlords fail to keep their finger on the pulse of an ever evolving marketplace, they can easily fall into the trap of not planning properly, or using an inexperienced agent, which may leave them with costly void periods.”
