Student Accommodation Nottingham, Student Flats & Apartments Nottingham & Trent University, Nottingham University

Benefits Of Apartment Living:

University Accommodation Office List - Both Nottingham University Accommodation Office and Nottingham Trent Uni Accom Office, NTU maintained lists of accredited properties suitable for student occupation. The accommodation office listings often have to allow properties to be advertisied to students in some Nottingham areas that many local Nottingham people would not see as safe or certainly less than desirable. Location has to be the key and the first consideration for any student....who wants to spend a year or two renting in a dodgy scary location, when there are high quality properties available near to Uni, with upmarket  bars, bistros, restaurants and theatres all on your doorstep.

Well Regarded Residential Nottingham City Centre location walk to Uni, Secure Entry, Secure Car Parking Space, Full Fire Safety System, High Standard Interiors & Furniture, Kitchens With Built-in Oven, Hob, Extractor, Fridge Freezer, Washer Drier and Dishwasher.

Most blocks of apartments and flats, are professionally managed by large specialist leasehold management companies who maintain and look after the fabric and running of these buildings.

Avoid Tenant Deposit or Rent Arrear Disputes, most landlords with large student houses will only proceed to rent to students if the students collectively agree to sign one tenancy agreement together. This is called a Joint Tenancy Agreement, which legally makes all the students party to the agreement ,and therefore all jointly responsible for each others actions. So if one tenant doesn't pay the rent then the other tenants are automatically liable. This joint responsiblity also extends to breakages caused to a property, and it is not uncommon for students to loose their tenant's deposit because somebody else has caused some damage to the property they rent .

Consider therefore signing a joint tenancy with 5 or even 6 other students, you may not even know them that well !

You or your parents could find yourselves legally responsible to pay the rent arreas or damages caused by another student in your house !

This is why there is a trend for students to rent smaller and smaller properties, by just signing up a tenancy agreement with one friend or colleague, such deposit or rent arrear disputes are rare.

Better locations often bring , local amenities nearby, for example at Ropewalk Court you have only a quick walk or bus ride to the universites and the main city centre, but is also just on your doorstep, up market local restaurants, bistros, the Playhouse Theatre, Nottingham Castle with its grounds and art galleries. Also being just near the private Park Estate, a prime Nottingham residential area and The Ropewalk a prime professional quarter of the city, there is the prospect of a good social life as the area is popular with medical, law students, and those who enjoy more convivial surroundings.

INVESTING IN NOTTINGHAM STUDENT ACCOMMODATION - BUY STUDENT FLATS & APARTMENTS

1. Which University City or Town To Invest In ? - Highly ranked universities tend to attract financially better off students with parental backing, or sponsored foreign students. Both Nottingham Universities are highly ranked and very oversubscribed with applications. There is also a very well respected Law School and Medical School.

    

2. Must Be In Close Proximity To A University - Only buy property for student accommodation, that is situated very near to the University you wish to attract students from. The student market is very bouyant but there is not a shortage of student accommodation and competition applies.
   
   Never get sucked in by offers of higher than average yields or by the quality of a newer property if the house or flat being offered for sale is situated out of the main, preferred student housing districts near a university. Do not become convinced that offering lower rents or a higher specification by degree will ever compete with a better located property, it is a classic mistake of inexperienced investors. In Nottingham ; Ropewalk Court , Regents Court, Parkgate, Lace Market District, Park West, are developments that are situated within a mile of the Nottingham Universities and offer high standard apartment housing to local students, not surprisingly they let quickly to Nottingham students, year after year.
   
3. Buy Newer Apartments Or Student Houses ? - Traditionally Victorian three storey houses located near a university have been an absolute winner, however in the recent property boom a new apartment housing stock has been built in many of our city centres, and some of these high standard apartments are located near to major universities...high standard competition has arrived for the traditional student house.
   
   New regulations have now come into force that affect especially 3 storey houses used for multiple student letting in terms of fire safety, space standards and indeed a code of management that must be complied with. An investor considering the purchase of a three storey house must check that houses for sale are registered and passed by the local council's Envirnomental Health Department in respect to HMO (Houses in Multiple Occupation) Licensing.
   
   Newer , 2 Bed Apartments do not suffer from such legislation, they already comply with fire safety and space standards and tend to out compete older terraced housing in terms of modern fittings, styling, & have better security for student accommodation.
   
4. Which Investment Makes The Most Yield ? - Well the rents being achieved by prime terraced student houses and prime student apartments are more or less the same. So investors need to simply work out how many bedrooms there are in a property and multiply the number of bedrooms against the weekly rent they feel their local student market can support.
   
   For example realistically in Nottingham a rent of £68 per bedroom per week can be achieved.
   
   Then one must consider maintenance expenditure, larger houses, accommodate more people so investors must expect more wear and tear and a higher degree of breakages and rent arrears. Apartments typically house 2 students sharing which make them far easier to manage and control, and the element of wear and tear considerably less.
   
   Older terraced housing stock usually attracts higher maintenance costs, more house break-ins, more problems with bathroom/shower plumbing...more furniture replacement...fire alarm call outs...etc...etc
   
   Newer Apartment owners pay an Annual Service Charge to the professional managers of the apartment block who take care of maintenance issues, and being newer build the fabric of the building is likely to be in good order.
   
   In many city centres there has been an element of over-supply with the number of newer apartments being built during the property boom, this is judged against the number of employed city workers needing city centre accommodation, and the number of first time buyers looking to buy their first flat. The current recession has hit these two elements, and so capital values for many city centre apartments are falling.
   
   Astute investors are now snapping up low priced apartments that can then tap into the student accommodation market with a prospect of 6 to 7 % yields rent to value.
   
   Traditional terraced houses are achieving around the same yields certainly in Nottingham, in fact the capital value of student let houses in the Lenton district are based purely on their rent to value yield, rather like a commercial property.
   
5. What About Increases In Capital Values In The Future ? - This is very interesting, because traditional terraced houses located in inner city districts near to universities often find their capital value is dependant on the rent they can achieve. If these houses became more difficult to rent to students then these houses would become very susceptiple to disproportionate falls in capital value because the 'local city centre family' could not afford the inflated capital values driven up by high student rents. For example In the Lenton District near Nottingham University, if landlords suffered too much competition from newer apartments and University Student Accommodation Building, then the capital values of their terraced student houses could fall dramatically as the local family market would not want or be able to pay an inflated capital value when compared with the general local inner city housing market.

FUTURE POLITICAL PRESSURE COULD THREATEN THE CONSIDERABLE DEVALUATION
OF LENTON STUDENT HOUSES

On a more sinister level the new HMO LEGISLATION could prove to be more than just fire safety and space standard controls, the Nottingham City Council could push for a policy that made landlords of HMO Student Let Houses apply for planning permission before they would be allowed to operate their student let properties as Houses in Multiple Occupation ...and that planning permission could be refused if the Local Council deemed there to be too many student houses operating in Lenton !

The Nottingham City Council have already reported to the Housing Minister regarding their concerns, these planning constraints became law in April 2010 so is now a harsh reality for student landlords with houses shared by 3 or more tenants. At some time in the future  the Council could decree that only a low percentage of the houses in Lenton could be used for Student Housing, capital values of houses not granted HMO Planning Permission would crash ! ...to a level that was affordable to local city centre families.

City Centre Apartments Capital Values - have fallen due to a number of commercial reasons, but they represent a new housing stock, located in preferred city centre locations, and meet up to date styling along with good security, when first time buyers return to the housing market they should prove popular for that first time purchase and this should sustain capital values. Equally for investors as the city economy grows in the future there is the prospect of increased demand for renting from the mobile young professional tenant.

APARTMENT INSURANCE - BUILDINGS INSURANCE FOR FLATS AND APARTMENTS

Landlord owners of rented apartments will be covered for buildings insurance arranged for the block of flats, apartments that the property is located in. Most building block insurance policies will cover properties that are offered for rent, as a standard. With student lettings the trick is to notify the insurer when your apartment is void, as there can often be a loophole with flat insurance that a property can only remain empty for a number of days if the landlord does not notify them. Sometimes building managers are not that helpful so landlords will have to find out their policy number and remember to email the insurance company involved. Smaller blocks or flats should definately consider an insurance service that is helpful in this respect, building managers are busy and don't normally want to get inveloved which is very frustrating, at the end of the day you are the client, you pay them for a service. Try Landlord Direct, for your block of flats, we understand your requirements and will be keen to make sure you are covered and happy. www.landlorddirect.com     STUDENT SIGN-UP