Landlords hoping to invest in
student accommodation in London have been offered advice on where to look.
David Lawrenson, property letting expert and owner of LettingFocus.com, pointed out that student letting is a sub-set of the market and has unique features.
"It's a good time to be a student landlord on the whole. One of the key things to look out for on the student market [is that] you have got to get the kind of property that is in demand for students," he noted.
"[It has got to be] in the right area and it has got to be [at] the right time as well because students only look at certain times of year - and that varies by university."
While the majority of first-year students will have been assigned university accommodation by this point, there will still be a number of older students looking to find
property to rent in London and in their own university towns.
"One of the key things to be careful of with student lets is that with rising fees coming in, you have to look at the level of demand coming in for that particular education institution where you are buying, because some places are in less demand than others," Mr Lawrenson posited.
"With introduction of fees for students and the increase in cost of university [it] has focused minds a bit more about which university to go to, so look at the level of demand coming through for that particular university."
This may not be the same level of demand that landlords were expecting, but it helps to know the limitations of the local rental market.
Another thing to look out for, according to the expert, is that large companies do not come into an area and build university accommodation blocks that "soak up" most of the student demand.
"If you're not careful you could end up in an area which becomes oversupplied," Mr Lawrenson warned.
His advice came after research from Lloyds TSB revealed the average house price in new university towns has risen by 70 per cent since 2001.
London Property to Rent
