There are many pluses to concentrating on the student sector for your buy to let property business, not least of which is the steady stream of rental income—students often pay up to a year in advance for their lets. But recent research has indicated that many students are struggling to pay their rents and the incidence of rent arrears amongst student tenants increased during the previous academic year.
On average, according to figures published by Mydeposits, students took around eighteen days to settle their rent arrears, which in the grand scheme of things is not too bad. In many cases, this was probably down to poor money management: What student wants to spend their money on boring stuff like the rent when they could be blowing it all on beer down the student union bar?
However, the government is planning to introduce further increases to tuition fees this autumn and many students who are already living on the poverty line will find it even more difficult to pay their rents, which is a concern for many landlords in the student sector. But despite this, most landlords questioned in the survey remain optimistic about the student lettings market and see no reason to change their buy to let business strategies.
How can landlords avoid student rent arrears?
The best way to avoid rent issues is to manage your tenancies correctly from the very beginning and ensure you are always contactable if one of your student tenants has any problems paying as this will help to avoid a small problem snowballing into an insurmountable one over time.
