Being a student landlord 'not for everyone'

People who are considering becoming student landlords should fully consider the challenges associated with the job, the Nation Landlords Association has (NLA) said.

John Socha, vice-chairman of the organisation, said old stereotypes of students being slovenly, unattentive people who demand only the minimum of services are no longer relevant.

Nowadays, he said, middle class undergraduates "want something that's in line with what they had at home".

Furthermore, many universities now have regulations in place that oblige landlords to meet minimum duty of care standards - in some cases even obliging landlords to install reliable broadband internet access for study purposes.

Mr Socha went on to praise the recent announcement by universities secretary John Denham that the government is seeking to create 20 new higher education centres in the next six years.

He said this would ensure that demand for rented student properties around the UK remained high, before reiterating his warning that not all landlords will be suited to rent to undergraduates.

"It takes a certain type of person to deal with students," Mr Socha stressed. "Not everyone's cut out for it."

News posted on 19th March, 2008