| Student landlords are being urged to undertake measures to ensure their
accommodation meets the demands of post-lockdown students.
According to Ben Fielding from property inventory software firm
InventoryBase, landlords should review their rental properties for meeting
their tenant's social and welfare needs.
That's because universities may recruit a similar number of students as
last year, but many are looking to introduce online learning and reduce
face-to-face interaction.
Also, student tenants will be wary about social interaction post-lockdown.
Mr Fielding points out that this need for social distancing will see
student accommodation with larger living spaces being in great demand.
Students looking for an attractive property
Students will also be looking for a more attractive property to live in
should there be a local lockdown imposed.
There will also be growing demand for personal bathrooms - or at least
having fewer users for the property's bathroom - so student tenants can
isolate as much as possible.
Mr Fielding also says that a high-speed Internet connection will become
important for students with much of their course syllabus going online and
the prospect of virtual lectures means that students will need good Wifi.
He added that it is estimated that 10% of the big student property
providers are looking to offer students extra perks to book rooms with
them.
Among these extras will be a strong Wifi connection to help make the rooms
more desirable.
Mr Fielding also says that students will still want to leave their parental
home to enjoy the social aspect of attending university and moving into
student accommodation – though social gatherings will be limited.
Overseas students may return to London
Meanwhile, research from Chesterton's reveals that the letting agents have
seen rents in the capital fall by up to 15% because student numbers there
have fallen.
However, they point out that students may well return to attend university
courses this autumn and help rents recover.
The firm's head of lettings, Richard Davies, said: "One of the factors
behind the oversupply of rental properties, especially in central London,
is a lack of students which has led to rents falling.
"With travel restrictions for many countries lifting, however, we could see
students returning and those rents recovering."
With London being home to around 375,000 higher education students, the
Higher Education Statistics Authority says that around one in three is from
overseas.
Mr Davies points out that overseas students tend to pay much higher tuition
fees and will come typically from a wealthy family and have a larger budget
for their student accommodation.
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