Advertising your property to student tenants can be tricky. With renting to students now an attractive income stream but also an increasingly saturated market, especially in student cities, it can be difficult to make your property stand out. Here’s what students seek out the most in student accommodation. 

Affordability 

Like for any property, students in particular will consider the rental price per month above all. Unlike other tenants however, students in general are on tighter budgets, and often can not compromise on their price point. 

• Get your home professionally valued, and consider using a student letting agency to get your property rented for the right amount 
• Remember that even if your home has other perks, students will quickly move past a property if its well above the average market price – there will always be someone renting for cheaper

Furniture and appliances 

Student renting is on a short-term basis, usually a contract of no more than 11 months. While student tenants are notoriously easy to cater for, and can be indifferent about the frills, they look for specific things in their room and house that are important to their student lifestyle. 

• Study desks in all rooms are essential, and landlords are strongly advised to put a sturdy desk and chair in all student rooms. If the room is small, remember that a desk and a single bed will guarantee you higher percentage of offers than a double bed with no study space 
• Kitchen and home appliances, too, are important to have in place. Although it is entirely your decision, and you are not obligated to supply any brown goods, students will look for these so they don’t have to buy their own. As long as they are safety tested, consider goods such as as a kettle, toaster, microwave, or vacuum cleaner for tenants to use

Good location and transport links

Students will look for a good location for their accommodation to be in. Ideally, they prefer to live close to the university campus. If not, the property having good bus routes is the next best option. They also will look for the distance to the town centre and nearest supermarket. 

• Look up the bus routes from your property to the university campus and advertise the exact commute times on the property advertisement. In a large city, there are usually two, or sometimes more, universities, so make sure to do advertise the commute for all of the universities in the city 
• Advertise the distance to the nearest shop. Also advertise the distance to closest large supermarket, and if it is walking distance
• If your property is on another useful bus route, or close to a train station, make sure to mention this too

Lack of damp and black mould 

Although this seems an obvious step, a large number of landlords neglect putting the correct measures in place for student tenants. In general, student properties have become notorious for black mould and damp issues. Make sure your property isn’t one of them!

• Make sure that, by the time your property is viewed, any black mould or damp issue  is taken care of. First impressions are important, and students will look out for these health risks 
• Some homes in general are more prone to black mould due to ventilation and structural issues. Consider spending some time and money painting the walls of your property with anti-mould paint: this will be more economical and less of a hassle than removing the black mould later. It also lasts up to 5 years in most cases, making it an occasional and cheap maintenance job
• If students have pre-existing respiratory conditions, black mould can aggregate the symptoms and can in some cases be fatal, so make sure you don’t get complacent

Convenience: bills and contracts 

Students look for convenience when looking for accommodation. If the contract for your property is inconvenient, this may drive away prospective tenants. Bills too, can turn into a hassle for some students. 

• Aim to gear the contract around the academic year. If the property contract starts in July or August, when many students are not yet in their student city, this will seem inconvenient as they’ll be paying for several months of rent when they’re not present at the property
• This also applies for the end of the year: most students, especially final-year tenants, often look for contract dates that stretch into the summer to stay in their student city after the academic year has ended
• If you already pay bills for your property, consider keeping this as it is, and adding it onto the final rent price. It can be a hassle for students to find the most affordable energy provider and wi-fi provider, and then deal with closing the accounts at the end of the year. Although this is the norm, and it’s not expected to pay your properties’ bills, every tenant loves seeing the words ‘all bills included’! 

Be sure to check out the Roome website, where we post loads of tips and tricks for university students every single week. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook to learn more about how we’re revolutionising the student housing market!