Student HMO Landlord Tips

There are around 2.6m+ students enrolled in higher education in the UK. The UK’s leading student accommodation search platform StuRents, notes that HMOs are a preferred choice for students vs purpose-built student accommodation.

Students always need accommodation, meaning you can hope to have a regular footfall of students needing an affordable place to live. Students tend to rent a year in advance, giving you a consistent and guaranteed income with no rental voids in the year. Lastly, there’s no Council Tax to pay if you're a student landlord.

Some aspects of being an HMO student landlord are similar to being a standard landlord, including executing inspection and inventory reports. However, here are a few more tips:

Furnish Your Property

Student HMOs are typically furnished, so you will need to source:

Beds
White goods
Desks
Seating (sofa)
Table and chairs

...and so on.

You don’t have to invest thousands here. Still, you have to provide reasonable quality items so you don’t have to replace them after one rental cycle. When students move in, your inventory report will accurately note the condition of all these items when tenants move in, during mid-term inspection reports and when they leave.

Market your Property

Students are no different to ordinary renters. They access the same rental sites, such as Rightmove or Zoopla. That means you need to have a presence there too. Assuming you are an approved HMO landlord, get yourself on the nearest university’s list of approved landlords. This is because universities send this list out to wannabe student renters.

Tell your Lender

If you have a mortgage on your HMO, you must let your lender and insurance company know you are renting to students. Some mortgages have a “no student” clause, so it’s wise to check. The same goes for insurance companies, who may want you to take out a particular policy.

The Tenancy Agreement

Typically, you will offer students a joint tenancy agreement for your property. This ensures that if one tenant leaves, the others in the property are responsible for paying the costs or finding a replacement tenant who will. This also applies if a student doesn’t pay their rent.

Reports2Go for HMO Landlords

Use our free Android and IOS apps to manage your HMO needs. Use it to generate HMO reports, inventory reports and more. Find out more.

Dan, 17 March 2023

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