There are three reasons why letting to students can often be more profitable than traditional lets:

• Demand and competition in student areas is strong and consistent
• Students will usually look to rent for a minimum of 12 months, meaning less stress for you finding new tenants
• Student lets tend to offer particularly high yields

Properties tend to suffer more wear and tear when let to students, and as a result you are likely to spend more on maintenance at the end of a tenancy than you would with a traditional let. In addition, most students will expect properties to be fully furnished.

Each City will be different, but in general students will start looking any time from October for lets starting in the next academic year (July)

A property with a minimum of 2 bedrooms and large communal spaces (lounge and kitchen)
will appeal particularly to students. More than one toilet or bathroom will be a great additional selling point, as will a garden. And obviously, choose a location within 30 minutes walking distance from the university campus.

Student lets should be marketed in the same ways as traditional lets. You should expect
your agent to list the property online on Rightmove, Unihomes and also be proactively
contacting local tenants. In addition, universities will release lists of approved rentals, and
you should ensure your property is on that list.

Student tenants can be difficult to reference using the standard process, because they do
not have a regular income and have usually come straight from living with parents. Instead, you should seek a guarantor for each student tenant. Usually a parent or guardian, the guarantor will themselves be referenced and is responsible for the rent if the tenant should fail to pay.*

Student tenants will expect the property to be fully furnished. Here’s a tick list
for landlords who want to let to students:

• Washing machine
• Fridge freezer
• Cooker
• Carpets/curtains/lampshades
• Beds
• Wardrobes
• Desk and chair for each room
• Sofa
• Vacuum cleaner
• Bins

You are likely to be letting to sharing occupants (ie. not a family group) so you will need to comply with rules around Houses in Multiple Occupations (HMOs).

A rented property is considered a House in Multiple Occupation if:

A property is occupied by five or more people, forming two or more households, who also
share facilities such as the kitchen or bathroom, regardless of the number of storeys the property has.

Please refer to the City Council website for more details About houses in multiple occupation
(HMOs) – Derby City Council

Yes, all rental properties must have a valid Electrical Installation Conditions Report, EPC and a Gas safety certificate. In addition to this you are required to install Smoke alarms (date valid), Carbon monoxide detector and heat detector where relevant.

Yes, for all our managed properties we use TDS for our registration.

Yes however this is not something we offer.

Yes, you must obtain permission from your lender, even if you have a buy to let mortgage your lender may not want to let out to students.

Yes, however as we are not tax advisors we highly recommend you seek advice on this matter.