Q for student landlords

MINCTbw

If you let houses to students, when is it typical in a year to sign up the next year (academic) of contracts/students?

I have tenants in place currently who I think may want to carry on in September (contract goes until end of August currently).

I know the first-year students often start looking for houses in early spring, so if my current tenants DON'T want to carry on then it's best I find out soon so I can advertise early.

So, basically, when can I reasonably press my current tenants to decide?

Thanks,

anselld

Round here they start looking after the Christmas break.

In my experience you can set whatever deadline you like but they probably won't decide until they start seeing other people coming through the door for viewings.

So set a deadline before the normal viewing window in your local area and then advertise as normal.

lookstraightahead

What does their contract say?

lookstraightahead

My daughter's contract goes on til July and she's found another house for next year but I don't think she's s did anything to the landlord yet. People do view the property throughout the year

G_M

lookstraightahead wrote: »

My daughter's contract goes on til July and she's found another house for next year but I don't think she's s did anything to the landlord yet. People do view the property throughout the year

If she's 'found another house' then presumably that landlord has given her a contract. Which means he must be planning to evict (assuming they don't leave) whoever is currently there.

need_an_answer

My student offspring has already been approached by the LL and asked what next years plans are.

Over the past 3 years there have been halls and another private rental,the private rental last year were showing prospective tenants around from around October onwards.

00ec25

so your current tenants may want to carry on into Sept.

your decision as LL depends wholly on when does the term start and if it is in Sept will there be an overlap which means you won't get a new set of students for the new academic year

and /or assuming you are one of the rare breed of student LL who actually do maintain the property between tenants, will the carry-over allow you sufficient time to do what ever work you want be re-letting

a simple decision only you can make... what others do is irrelevant

pinknsparkly

In answer to your second question - I certainly don't think it's too early, or in any way unreasonable, to be pushing them for a commitment one way or the other now.

In answer to your first question: Getting a generic answer from this forum probably won't be of much use to you. I've been a student in two different cities, and the dates that properties were advertised were quite different in each city. The city I was an undergrad in started advertising places from early March and the city I did my MSc and PhD in started advertising in mid January. It seems to be very city-specific!

Organised students will be out house-hunting immediately the places become available (as the "decent" ones get snapped up very quickly). You should probably either contact your local universities to ask (they often have links with recommended letting agencies and landlords who have been vetted by, or at least registered with, the university) or speak to some local letting agencies who may be able to give you guidance on how it works in your town/city.

dimbo61

I can only speak for the Manchester area and Manchester Student Homes but they begin the advertising period in November of each year.
Accredited Landlords need to provide EPC, gas Safe Certificate, EICR and HMO licence if more than 4 tenants before they can place an advert.
Many big quality properties are snapped up before Xmas.
100,000+ students in Manchester

PS maintenance now happens all year round.