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Simon X

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Lets be clear here - the situation for each tenant (and guarantor) will be unique, therefore these blanket "gimme free money" letters from the Student unions is just taking the monkey. We are student landlords and HAVE given rent breaks for people in need. But as we have no help from the government or our lenders, the answer is that we really need the full rent paid. There is no magic money tree...

From: Simon X 20 April 2020 14:44 PM

"And the reality is the student perhaps requires slightly more regular maintenance than a family house but that is because the tenants are replaced every year" - Not slightly. A lot more. It's significantly more expensive as student tenants are now looking for high quality properties to rent and fitting x tenants into a property with bikes + gear creates significantly more wear than normal. I always think of this in terms of bathrooms and kitchens - I seem to refurbishing these at three times the rate of a regular rental. When was your house kitchen/bathroom replaced? every 15 years? It's every 5-7 years for a student let if done properly...

From: Simon X 14 April 2020 11:55 AM

Hi S S, As a specialist student landlord in this space, I must provide some feedback on your comments: 1) The trend in the last decade has made the student accommodation space very expensive with MOST student properties having attached mortgages. 2) Student lettings is a very expensive business with significantly more expenses per property vs a regular rental - I often see 10x the expenses vs a single family let. Not including the regular refurbs of bathrooms/kitchens to keep a property in running order. 3) The profit margins are there, but not by a significant amount - that offer to drop one months rent is probably cutting the landlords net income in half for the year... 4) Council tax - the councils normally charge double rate for empty properties! So leaving the tenancy early is also racking up additional charges for the landlord! (Note that PBSAs and Uni's do not pay this either). As a landlord, I still have to pay for fire safeties, gas safeties and all critical property works throughout this period... the business does not stop just because of the virus. Final comment - government support and lenders - It should be clearly noted that there is NO support from the government for our business type - Also, a mortgage holiday is just deferring the mortgage charges till later (with additional interest added). It's not free. Add in the punitive tax situation with Section 24 taxes and it's quite clear that being a landlord is an expensive unfair business... As a student landlord, I am fully listening to my tenants in trouble - they are getting the rent deferments where needed, but the rent will still need to be paid eventually. As all our lets are fully inclusive of bills, they are also receiving a reduction to represent the energy bills for the affected period.

From: Simon X 14 April 2020 11:23 AM

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