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Investment opportunity? Student demand growing as stock falls - claim

Demand for student accommodation is greater than ever, a specialist online platform suggests.

This is despite high supply of new purpose built flats for students, and uncertainty over foreign academic study because of Brexit. 

UniHomes says the overall student population in the UK has increased by nine per cent in the past five years, with nearly 200,000 more heading to higher education. 

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In 2015, university students accounted for 3.6 per cent of the total UK population, but this has climbed consistently year on year, with them now making up 3.8 per cent.

Property consultancy Cushman and Wakefield, quoted by UniHomes, says the level of student-specific accommodation reaching the market has climbed at an average of 5.2 per cent a year since 2015.

Now purpose-built student accommodation totals 660,000 homes in total, but even so many students still require private rental accommodation.

While this demand has rise, supply has dropped according to the platform; stock levels in England have dropped by an annual average of 0.2 per cent over the past five year and today there are 107,000 less rental homes across the UK market when compared to the peak of 4.832m rental properties in 2016.

 

 

UniHomes co-founder Phil Greaves says: “While the provision of student-specific accommodation has increased, a reduction in PRS stock is a worrying trend that could cause issues for future students when it comes to putting a roof over their heads.

“Rental affordability is already an issue for many at university and the cost of renting is the largest outgoing that many students struggle to cover. Should stock levels continue to decline while demand increases, the cost of renting is likely to climb higher, causing rents to increase as well.”

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    Great! My student rents will be going up again for the fifth year running!

    40% up since May 2017 for my best student properties.

    Don't you just love market forces?

    Lefties need to understand market forces and cause and effect.

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    .......Lefties need to understand market forces and cause and effect.....

    No chance of that happening.

     
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    I agree and sympathize with those they harm but claim to protect but am pleased to benefit from the higher rents possible due to their misguided dogma reducing supply whilst demand soars.

     
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    The shortage of student accommodation and increasing rents have been caused by students/student pressure groups attempting to bully the free market.
    Little life lesson for them there.

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    Bit of a risky market after the year we've just had!

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    Having several solvent property owning guarantors accepting joint and several liability takes a lot of the risk out of student rentals.

    The massive 30% hike in rents over 2017/2018in Scotland followed the SNP's misguided legislation to outlaw fixed term tenancies and prevent landlords from specifying a tenancy end date.

    Many of the better student flats in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, St Andrews etc. had winter student rents subsidised by high rents during the tourist seasons. Landlords overnight could not rely on higher tourist short term rents if students didn't leave in time for the tourist season or only gave the minimum 28 days notice now standard in Scotland.

    We therefore had to choose whether to focus on tourist short term rentals, removing the availability of these flats from the student market, or stick with the student market but at higher rents due to the lack of higher tourist rental income.

    The resulting shortage of student flats allowed the higher rents to become the market rents and they have continued to go up year on year.

    Yet again, unforeseen consequences from leftie dogma - only we did foresee and warn the SNP but they ignored us, as they continue to ignore all professionals. Their latest ploy is to threaten rent controls....

    Bring it on!

     
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