Buying house for student daughter to live in, then renting it out?

Alan2020

In principle the idea sounds great, however there are several fundamental issues:

1. Daughters partner - at uni after 1-2months most partners split, how would you daughter feel when her ex has a drink and drug fuelled orgy in the living room - call ghostbusters??

2. A cottage, no student wants to live in a cottage unless they are so poor or evicted. Most students prefer en-suite rooms in shiny buildings. Of course people do rent old property, but they are utter thrash and mostly to unsuspecting international students. With a student in the living room, the dining room, the loft (unconverted) etc Do you think your daughter can handle this.

3. If the local students whom you rent it to decide to take a baseball bat and smash every thing including doors, windows, bathroom, kitchen and walls, all glass. Then do a s h i t and rub it all over the house, can your daughter deal with it? I know of one of my classmates at uni did it. Oh landlord got nothing, you cannot get anything from a bankrupt drunk druggie.

dimbo61

As a HMO student landlord I read on this website about parents of students thinking of ways to help their kids avoid paying rent and get them on the property  ladder.
It was a nightmare 10 years ago and has now got worse.
EWS1 form for flats ! 
The requirements needed to be a Landlord and rent a property has only got more difficult.
EPC, GSC, EICR, Deposit protection, Tenancy agreements, Health and Safety, location, costs to buy and sell, preparing a house to rent.
Most students now want Ensuite bedroom, fully furnished with double beds and over 10m2 for HMO licence.
Waste management, 
It can be done and maybe buying the Right property in the right area with a son/daughter attending university in a large city for 4+ years might pay but 
Don't buy a flat with cladding ☹️

steampowered

I don't think this is a good idea. You are mixing your daughter's future and your personal investment goals in a way which could damage both.

I worry that you are infantilising your daughter, and that you might damage her university experience. Living in halls, then with mates in a shared house, is part of the university experience. Renting as a student also develops skills needed for adult life - dealing with other people; dealing with landlords; dealing with letting agents.

Living in a 2-bed cottage owned by the parents is absolutely not a good substitute for that. 

You would be choosing a property you like - not a property that your daughter, who is in a completely different life stage and has completely different priorities, might like, and with very little idea of what type/location of property will be best for her university study.

Personally I would give the daughter some money for uni (read this), and let her make her own life decisions.

If you do decide that you wish to start a lettings business by buying a BTL property, then you should do that based on the best property for that kind of business. Not based on where your daughter is going to university. You should also consider whether there are better options out there - such as a stocks & shares ISA, or topping up your pensions. Topping up your pensions is likely to be a much more effective way of saving for retirement due to the tax relief - especially if you or your spouse are higher rate tax payers.

lika_86

pinkzebra said:

Thanks for your responses. In response...
...

lika86 - We dont have a burning desire to be a landlord to students, but do want to be landlords, so we have a better income when we get older. We are currently paying nearly £7000 a year for my daughters accommodation- which is why we are thinking about doing this next year. It just feels like we’re throwing our money down the drain. 

Second home SDLT is likely to exceed one year of rent, that's also money down the drain, same with repairs, furniture costs etc.