Lynne Wilson, Housing Hub Advisor in Leeds shares her thoughts and advice on lettings
Individual Lets
Students who haven’t formed a group, but still want to share a property are looking for individual lets. This option is preferable signing a joint contract with students they don’t know.
Landlords can consider amending their adverts to show that rooms can be let on an individual basis.
Short Term Lets
Some students are studying on courses which are shorter than a full academic year. Any landlords who are open to offering a shorter let can highlight this in their advertising as it coulds be a popular option for some students.
International students
Numbers of international students are expected to rise in Leeds and Bradford in September 2022. Demand for student accommodation and some family student accommodation is likely to increase substantially.
Viewings
Make the most of Virtual Tours and ask students to use them as a shortlisting tool before arranging an in-person viewing
Ask students to look through your photos and virtual tours and if they really like the property, go ahead and offer a viewing. You can therefore dedicate your time to good quality viewing appointments with students who are serious about renting your property. This makes the most of yours and their time.
Virtual viewings
There are a number of different types of virtual viewings currently being used by landlords. These can be pre-recorded video walk-through and live-streaming video recordings.
A virtual tour is a self-guided ‘walk-through' of the property. These can easily be created using the video function on a smart phone and gives the viewer a good sense of the property.
A live streaming video is where the landlord hosts a WhatsApp or FaceTime call and the viewers are added to the video call. The landlord can walk around the property and the prospective tenants can ask questions whilst seeing the property live. Call the Hub for assistance with this.
Arranging an in-person viewing
There are still some sensible considerations to make in terms of creating a safe viewing experience for all involved in the viewing process. Check before a viewing appointment that no currrent tenant or viewing student has Covid-19.
Forming groups
Unipol is working with Students’ Unions to provide support to students who are looking to find flatmates or larger groups. There are Facebook Groups for students to use; this provides a useful space for students to connect and message each other about Househunting. Unipol will be facilitating some flatmate finding events in the New Year where students can meet face to face in an informal setting.