Released on: October 25, 2007, 11:52 am

Press Release Author: Jim watson

Industry: Real Estate

Press Release Summary: Now the university year is in full swing, the latest studies
of the state of the student segment of the buy-to-let home market have been carried
out.

Press Release Body: Now the university year is in full swing, the latest studies of
the state of the student segment of the buy-to-let home market have been carried
out. The news which has emerged is of changes to the nature of the market which
landlords need to be aware of if they are to stay ahead in what is an increasingly
lucrative business.

That it is lucrative is not in doubt, with research published earlier this year by
Landlord Mortgages showing average student buy-to-let yields were 6.59 per cent,
compared with 5.42 per cent for the rest, while buy-to-let firm Paragon found that
landlords with student lets on their books averaged yields of seven per cent, while
those who did not only saw yields of 5.6 per cent.

So far this year, real estate agency Hamptons International has found that not only
is demand strong, but also restrictions on supply have seen an increase in the
proportion of students renewing their tenancies, a phenomenon at odds with the rest
of the buy-to-let market, hotproperty.co.uk reports.

In addition to this, there is increased demand for quality, far from the outdated
stereotype of the hit comedy The Young Ones. Rather than dirty digs with rising
damp, there is an increasing desire to live in a high standard of accommodation.
\"Students are increasingly savvy when it comes to getting in early to secure their
ideal property,\" said Hamptons spokesperson Melanie Williams.

She added that students were willing to pay a good rate of rent for properties,
which were well decorated and had modern kitchens and bathrooms.

But if some are failing to live up to the image of Rick, Neil and Vivian, other
students are taking matters a step further. Research by Abbey National has found
that students and their parents are not just being the customers of buy-to-let but
are increasingly joining the ranks of owners. The bank found that 88,000 students
already live in their own place while studying at university, a quarter of whom are
living in places that their parents have bought for them to stay in. The new
buy-to-let investors, it seems, are either Mum and Dad, or the students themselves,
whose ownership of a property in a university town, either alone or in partnership
with friends, opens up their own chance to be landlords.

Commenting on this development, Abbey\'s head of mortgages Nici Audhlam Gardiner
said: \"Britain\'s student population continues to be a source of income for
buy-to-let property investors, many of whom are parents of the students or the
students themselves.\"

She added some advice for these new investors, should they take out a buy-to-let
mortgage: \"The key issue with any mortgage, but a buy-to-let one in particular, is
affordability. People considering it need to make sure that they can afford the
mortgage payments plus any maintenance costs, service charges and down-time between
tenancies that they will also need to cover.\"

But while these new investors get their own advice, existing buy-to-let landlords
looking to get into the student market need to be clued up as well. The message is
clear that students want a better quality of decor and facilities than was perhaps
once the case. Moreover, if the landlords don\'t meet that demand, there are others -
including entrepreneurial students themselves - who will. As ever, knowing the
market well is the key.

Web Site: http://www.assetz.co.uk

Contact Details: Address:Assetz House, Newby Road, Stockport,Cheshire,SK7 5DA

fax:0845 400 6010

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