Leeds student market continues to boom for Landlords

New research reveals that Leeds now has more student properties than anywhere else in the UK, and this is one of the key reasons why the city’s student property market is evolving at such a pace.

This summer, research by money.co.uk, which analysed the UK’s biggest university towns and cities, put Leeds in the top spot in terms of student properties, with 16,225. This was closely followed by Nottingham with 15,422 properties. However, despite Leeds being home to one of the country’s biggest student populations, money.co.uk also put The University of Leeds in a lowly 30^th place in a league table showing which universities have the most students living in uni-owned accommodation.

The appeal of Leeds as a top university city shows no sign of waning, with both The University of Leeds and Leeds Beckett continuing to experience very high demand. While this is great news for the city’s student property market, it’s an ever-changing landscape and landlords must keep abreast of market demand, in order to secure good tenants early.

As the student season prepares for launch on November 1st, estate agents across Leeds will release thousands of student homes, that will be available to move into next summer.

With that in mind, it’s never been more important to take steps to ensure your property stands out in the market, and meets the expectation of discerning students, with high spec finishes, quality marketing and additions like bills-inclusive tenancies.

– Josh Buckley, Lettings Branch Manager

Fierce Competition

It’s not just current students who will be competing for the best homes, data from student housing charity, Unipol, also reveals a 30% increase in graduate students staying in Leeds. With many continuing to live in the same areas, it means there are thousands more people competing for rental stock.

In the coming weeks we’ll be launching more than 450 student homes, predominantly using virtual tours, full floorplans, enhanced pictures and detailed descriptions, and there’s no doubt students will begin reserving immediately.

We’ll be supporting this with a fully integrated marketing campaign that includes digital ads, email campaigns, social media and billboard to capture the attention of the city’s thriving student market.

Fully Inclusive Tenancies

With energy costs soaring, 72% of students expect all-inclusive properties that include electric and gas, as well as fast broadband, water, TV licence and insurance, as part of their monthly rental payment.

For most students, choosing a home without having utilities included. Which is why, this year, we offer a fully-inclusive DELUXE bills package on all of our HOP managed properties – with no risk to the Landlords. HOP has worked hard to secure competitive tariffs so we can guarantee costs until June 2024, giving both tenants and parents, peace of mind.

Student Trends

Hyde Park and Woodhouse remain the city’s most sought-after locations because they offer easy access to the main university campuses and the city centre. Burley’s train station also makes it popular and it’s now mainly final year students who focus their search around Headingley, which was once the city’s traditional student heartland.

Another trend we’ve seen in recent years is the shift towards smaller bedroom numbers. Two and three bedroom homes are particularly popular, whereas houses with six, seven and eight bedrooms, require top-notch marketing to secure the big rental income that these houses warrant. Lots of landlords are even dividing larger houses into two apartments or converting smaller bedrooms into en-suite bathrooms, in response to this.

The Investor’s Choice

There’s no doubt that student housing in Leeds remains a good investment for those who are attracted by the high yields on offer, due to cheaper purchase prices and higher rents.

We are anticipating rental increases next year of 5% on average. This is being driven by demand, as well as inflation and increasing mortgage rates. Plus, the amount of purpose-built student accommodation being built in Leeds is also helping to push rents up. Although it’s competition for traditional student housing stock, the fact that rents in brand new city centre developments regularly exceed £1,000 a month per person, means students are now generally prepared to pay more.

It’s also worth nothing that, although we have seen some Landlords thinking of selling up, due to proposed energy performance certificate (EPC) requirements, in many cases our fully trained assessors can advise on basic improvements that will bring a property up to the required standard, allowing them to stay in the market.

Even in the current climate, we’re still seeing new landlords entering the market for the first time who contact us for advice on C4 paperwork, HMO licences and ultimately for help to secure and manage tenants.

If you have an HMO or student property for the 2023 academic year, there’s still time to get your property listed, simply call us on 0113 320 2100 to arrange an up-to-date valuation of your property,

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We’ve been successfully letting student properties since way back in 2009, so if you have a property to list for the new student season, our experts would be happy to help you secure tenants for the next academic year.

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