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Hi there, Anybody have any experience of buying and renting out a student purpose-built flat/studio in one of the large blocks that are popping up in university cities? They seem pretty cheap as a first investment for my portfolio. Does anybody know of problems when trying to sell on or dispose of the property after several years? Any help gratefully received! Take care Wendy

Hello everybody, I'm Jade and I am looking to buy the property that I currently live in with my parents as the only name on the mortgage given that my parents are both unemployed. I am currently a university student in my final year and work 22.5 hours part-time at the moment (annual income 18,500). My dad owns a property that we would sell to finance the sale of the property we want to buy that is valued at 135000 and we have a sum of 40000 savings. I want to apply for a mortgage of around 25000 given that the house we want to buy is estimated at approximately 200000. My parents have no experience or knowledge in buying or selling property and the situation that I find myself in is one that I have very little understanding of. Can anybody offer any help, support or guidance on this? Is my mortgage application likely to be declined or approved? How likely is it that I can buy the property? Many thanks in advance, Jade-S.

hello , so i'm planning on being an architect but i also want to join the military , for my university i would have to be active duty for the military to be given 100% TA and be studying architecture at the same time, is it possible to do both or just i just focus on one of them? Have you ever met an architect that used to go to any military branches?

Hiya, I am London based and started a while ago to focus on Leeds as my investment area. I have bought my first BTL in York about a yar ago and now looking to do student HMO's in Leeds around Headingley. It is article 4 yes, and while one does pay a bit of a premium for that you also get piece of mind of not having to worry about future competition (new HMOs pop up left right and centre these days) and a very low amount voids. So I don’t think it’s all bad. Also from deals i am finding, the number still stack up quite well (i.e. 15% ROI in a ltd with full mgmt.) Anyway, I started talking to a few investors focussing on that particular strategy and just posting this to connect to some more people that i could exchange knowledge and experiences with. But also interested to hear what you have to say about investing in an Article 4 area. I am very open to have a chat over phone or coffee, am just really keen to learn more and also share my knowledge. Feel free to contact me here or via e-mail: l.m.steinbrecher@gmail.com Thanks, Lars

Hi Property Hub members Having recently joined Property Hub I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I live and work in London and have had a keen interest in property and property investments for several years now. So far much of my attention was on purchasing and refurbishing my own home in London. Now that this is done, I would like to take the next step and invest some of my savings and recurring job income into BTL property. In terms of strategy, I am looking for BTL investments with a yield above 5%. That rules out most of Southern England. So I am planning to invest into BTL properties in some of the larger cities in the North. For me the 2 main constraining factors are limited local knowledge and time: While I know the London property market well, that isn't the case for Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Sunderland and other places in Northern England. To bridge that gap I am planning work with local people and to establish good working relationships which are win-win for both sides. Time is my other constraint. I am working in a demanding office job in London which keeps me very busy Monday to Friday. That leaves me with around an hour each weekday to spend on property management and investments. On a typical weekend I can spend around 8 hours on it. Hence I am looking for property investments which are largely hands-off and don't require a lot of attention during regular working hours. I could travel to Northern England from time to time, especially for important things such as meeting local business partners to work with and for final viewings. But my plan is to limit the number of trips to 5-10 per year. Here's how I intend to gradually progress on this: First, I am looking to learn more by reading many of the very good postings here on the forum. I will also have a number of specific questions that I hope people in this forum will know the answers to. Then, the next step is to complete my first property investment. For this, I am looking for a project with low complexity and low execution risk to start with. I am happy to accept a lower yield for my first project if this helps to reducing complexity and risk. For example, this could be a room in a purpose-built student block or a single let which doesn't require any meaningful renovation work. In this process I am hoping to learn more and to establish contacts with business partners in the North. Finally, with the acquired knowledge, experience and established business contacts I would like take on more complex projects with the potential of higher yields (or capital appreciation) such as larger renovations or multi lets. Via this forum I hope to exchange thoughts with you and to meet potential business partners in Northern England, for example good and reliable property viewers, property sourcers, property management companies and renovation project managers, to build successful long term business relationships with them. Please don't hesitate to send me a PM if you are working in any of these areas, I'd be interested in hearing from you. Looking forward to discussing with you in this forum. Michael

Hello All, This is a bit of a strange topic as this is spoken from a tenants point but here it goes. My cousin has just started his second year of university at Nottingham and has moved into a shared house with other students. As far as i am aware this house has been let out to students majority of the time. (I know students aren't the cleanest of people). Anyway my cousin has discovered mold on one of the walls in his bedroom, and when he came home last weekend he was saying that he had chest pains.... He has a dehumidifier which he has been leaving on more regularly and says it has reduced the mold a little. However the landlord came to visit the property the other day to check on the property (something to do with the WI-FI) but he also looked in the rooms and noticed the mold. Well his response was find a scraper and get scraping (Not sure it was worded exactly like that) So i was wondering if there is anything that could be done either getting my cousin to try and fix it (providing the landlord is happy with that) or a way to get the landlord to fix it for him, which from his reaction when he found the mold didn't seem to inclined to do. I know there is a selective licensing which has been brought into Nottingham is this of any use? Or could me cousin maybe appeal to get the mold fixed. I'm not trying to be awkward and cause work or a cost to the landlord, but i would hate if a tenant was getting chest pains or had mold in one of their rooms. I hope someone could give some advice on this. Kind regards, Jay

Hi All, I am looking to purchase a 4 bed HMO / Student Property in Sheffield or Leeds. I would like to purchase within the next two months, however I am worried that the 2nd – 4th year students would have already found their property for the academic year. Would you suggest purchasing and then renting out to young professionals (sourcing on spareroom etc.) on a short term let basis until June / July 2020 and then move the students in. Thanks,

Hi I am new here. I am a very small time landlord, we have just one BTL property in London. My daughter is a student in Manchester and as she seems likely to stay on for an MA I am thinking about making use of some money my mother has given me as the deposit for a property for her (daughter) to live in plus one or two friends paying rent. So I put this to my current lender today and they said they didn’t offer mortgages on such a basis as it’s a “family let” and therefore considered higher risk. My questions are: 1. Is this going to be the answer I get from every lender I contact? Or should I just give up now? 2. How do they work this out anyway - surely my own daughter is less of a risk? Sarah

Good Morning all, I'm weighing up a potential investment in Manchester which could be a HMO for students providing I could get a license for it. Due to the large number of students houses in Manchester, I know that it can be difficult to obtain a license on new fully compliant student HMO properties. Does anyone in The Property Hub community have any experience on this topic or have experience in the area?

Hi there, I am currently investing in the Teesside area and have a couple of student BTL's close to Teesside University. My question is this... There is a proposed student village that looks to go ahead in January 2020 that will include a huge accommodation increase of quality student houses/flats. Can developments like this owned by the university drastically effect the stock of privately owned student accommodation? Has there been any previous cases of this from other small university towns where this has happened and what were the effects? My guess is that it will mean a lot of the poor stock of student housing in the area will lose out and the best stock will be the first in line to get the students with potentially landlords having to reduce rents. There will also be a contraction in the market i.e the further away the houses are from the uni, the less chance of renting out. Any advice and thoughts/opinions welcome! Thanks Jamie

Hello I have decided to start a new chapter in my life and leave the day job behind by focusing on BTL investments in the North servicing the student market. I am looking for 10% gross return and ideally 20% on capital. I have spent the past month researching and have just started looking at target properties in the past week and have put my first two offer in. I am aiming to buy 6 properties in the next 18 months and I am looking to connect with fellow investors to share experience good and bad as I develop my portfolio. I will eventually set up a company but right now I am taking advantage of the flexibility that buying individually with my wife will give me. Having spent some time travelling around student cities in the North of England …..I may even be tempted myself to move out of the big smoke here in London and enjoy the space and friendliness I have experienced so far during my field trips Look forward to sharing more soon

Good evening all. I am a new investor, in Glasgow. I have a four bed flat in Hillhead and a five bed which I am in the process of acquiring. I am entering the HMO market, setting up a limited company and intend to grow a portfolio. I was formally a litigation solicitor in the property/landlord and tenant sector. It is fair to say that the Scottish residential letting sector is nervous of the new PRT regime (Private Rented (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016). Short Assured Tenancy agreements are a thing of the past (unless your tenant is already signed up to one,....for now). The new tenancy regime seems to be worrying landlords, particularly those in the student market. HMO agents are waiting to see how the changes will effect their clients. It is suggested that there will be empty flats during the 'dead months' of June, July and August. Others believe that tenants will be so keen to secure their preferred flat for the following academic year that they opt to 'stay and pay' during the summer? Maybe they will, because there is strong demand for student accommodation in Glasgow, but will this continue? Further, even if demand remains strong, are students (or their parents) really going to cover the rent in the summer months when they cant be forced to pay [I accept that this assumes under the old/existing regime, tenants and personal guarantors could be reasonably and practically forced to pay rent if the property was vacated in May - from talking to people, it seems most tenants paid up during the summer months without a fuss, but it is further suggested that this will not continue under PRT]. Is anyone thinking about this? The potential dead months are the summer months, ie the tourist season (or a large part of it). Are any of you who are HMO/student landlords looking into the short term holiday let market as a means of filling potential dead months (or even as a means of increasing gross yield)? I know what many will say - each market has its own property profile and they are at opposite ends of the 'quality' continuum! That might be party true, but here's the thing: It seems likely that all landlords are going to come under increasing regulatory and quality-control pressure. At present, most sectors have relatively light regulation (HMOs excepted). Those landlords with HMO properties are likely to be already compliant (or semi compliant) if, for example, the holiday let market gets regulated. Further, a 'really nice' flat will always be easier to fill with students or tourists and local authority inspectors are more likely to find favour with flats which have been well refurbed. Are student tenants really incompatible with corporate/holiday lets over the summer? I don't know. My experience of student tenants if very positive. Are Landlords with student tenants worrying about empty flats during the summer months? Is anyone looking at this as a possibility and thinking of solutions? I'm open to ideas, comment, discussion and criticism! Regards, Jamie

Hi All, Just wondered if anyone could give me a little advice/point me in the right direction - thanks in advance! I'm 18 and looking to invest in my first BTL single let property. My father has agreed to allow me to raise finance on our family home, which means I can be a cash buyer. After a refurbishment, 6 months later I'd hope to refinance at a higher value with 75% LTV in order to repay the mortgage/bridging loan on our family home. Any surplus, I suspect around 10-15K, would be paid off with my own funds so I was the sole owner. Couple of complications!: I'm 18 I'll be a student for 3 years from October I have no other income As a result, just wondered if it would be better to do this through a company or whether even in a Ltd company my demographic still wouldn't be acceptable for a mortgage. Secondly, the first stage of finance on our family home: I know bridging can be quite expensive so I'm a little hesitant but I also know taking out a mortgage and paying it off in six months time isn't the right thing to do either... Any suggestions? Thanks all in advance, Ben

Hey everyone, my name is Francis and I'm currently a student at university. I've been looking to start investing into property, acquiring my first asset either this year or early next year. I was wondering if anyone would be able to offer me some advice for making my first investment. Thanks a lot in advance, looking forward to getting more involved with this community, Francis

Hello all, I currently have a small portfolio of single family buy to lets, which I have acquired over the last 3/4 years. I now feel I am at a stage where I would like to move into the world of multi lets. However I am getting conflicting reports from more experienced landlords than myself in which area to go into. Some are saying a traditional HMO (i.e letting rooms to working class professionals etc) is the way forward and others are telling me stay well clear and concentrate on the student market. At this stage it is probably advantageous to say I am looking at buying in Hull (My local city) We have a good demand in my opinion for both options, a large university with multiple campuses and an emerging labour market with Siemens and other blue chip companies investing heavily in the area. Can anyone share their opinion on the positives and negatives of both options? Any advice and knowledge shared would be greatly appreciated. Thanks James

Hi Everyone - I’m looking to make my first investment property purchase soon and I have a couple queries ref commercial mortgages: If I am planning on doing a HMO - will I need a specific HMO Commercial mortgage? If so, am I likely to need experience as a landlord in order to get this? Would this be different for a student HMO where they are on the same AST? Thanks in advance! Joe

Hi everyone, At the moment my next investment is a long way off, however I have started to think about which area I would like to buy in. I have visited Liverpool on several occasions, my most recent visit was to see one of my mates who is currently a student there. He lived in the Kensington area and paid around £325pcm for the room in his HMO, along with 4 other people, so the landlord is receiving £1625pcm! As far as I'm aware bills were not included in this price and it was up to the tenants to pay their own bills. When I returned home I looked on rightmove and some of the houses in that area are selling for around £100,000- £125,000. This seems very cheap for the rent that these houses can achieve when let to students. If rented out the yields seem to be very attractive. From my understanding the main student area is around Smithdown Road, but I also see a lot of houses there for sale for around the same price. Does anyone have any experience of HMOs in Liverpool? Is the demand strong for student houses there? Thanks for reading, Matt

I have been investing in property on a part-time basis for the past 15 years, and in the last 3 years I have dedicated even more time to this, whilst also starting a family and being the proud parents of two girls! I've been a self-employed IT Consultant since the age of 21 and have been involved in various startup's that include a software business, fashion retail business, a GPS tracking business and a healthcare consultancy. However, I have come to realise that my real passion and successes is in property investments and management (although if I could combine this in the future with software, then I'd really enjoy that too!). My property portfolio consists of city centre apartments, detached executive homes and HMO / Student houses (with a random property in Dubai!) I'm now just counting down the days to become full-time in property investing and deal brokering - I hope to one day help others to invest in properties too! I am an open networker and would love to connect with you and discuss any aspects of property investing. Many thanks for reading, Antony.

Hi All, I have been attempting to purchase my first BTL over 1 year (including research!), and after 2 failed attempts I am now in a position of starting a masters degree for a year from Sept 2015. This means I will be quitting my job in July/Aug and I am not sure if a) I should continue my search and hope to find something that will complete on time, as if the buying process shoots beyond my 'expiry date' it will pose lots of challenges or bb) leave the whole thing for 1 + years after the masters and then try again once on a job contract I am taking it is near impossible for me to get a BTL mortgage when unemployed/student status Realise the above it hard to comment on, but any advice would be greatly appreciated. I feel it is a case of 'so near yet so far' and not sure what the future will hold Thanks! Savi

Well I'm Tom and I'm currently a student, I'm also keen on learning about property. Come and talk to me if you want to know more, have a great day all of you!

Hi, I've just found out that my wife has a new job in Coventry and Warwickshire as a doctor (exact hospital tbc) and it's made me start to look at Coventry as an area for investment. Fundamentals seem good, but the student population really stands our and it's making me think about targeting student tenants. I would presume that students start to secure their accommodation for the following academic year before they break for the summer, is that right? I'm concerned that the window to find, purchase and market a property is closing fast and I would probably need to have adverts attracting tenants by May at the latest, which would be quite tricky. Does anyone have experience of this? I don't want to sink cash in a student BTL only to find that I've missed the boat for a year. Any pointers, war stories or general advice would be gratefully received, Thanks Gareth

My nephew has just started his PhD I England and needs to find accommodation for the next 3 years. My mother is 80 and has cashed i some shares from when my father passed away but it is sitting in a bank earning almost no interest. I live abroad Europe on a good salary, and have just started a seemingly successful student buy-to-let portfolio where I live. I also have my old home in the UK with the mortgage fully paid off letting to DSS family , as I am unable to get an HMO license from the local council, due to living abroad. This property has a value similar to the amount I would consider spending on a property for my nephew. I spoke to the council where my nephew is studying and they were open to a joint HMO license if my nephew was living in the property. My hope is that my mother would pay say 25% deposit on the property, I would take the rest as a mortgage, and my nephew would choose the property, find the students and manage the lettings as far as could done by a non-professional, and hire specialist help where needed. Yields on buy-to-lets offered by estate agents are up to 10%. My nephew is enthusiastic about this and a capable and honest young man, as well as being quite handy at DIY. My mother is looking for a safe investment with some access in case of say needing to go into a care home, so I offered her 10% return on the deposit guaranteed in return for keeping her money there for 10 years with a sliding scale for divesting, and some index linking of return where possible. I have asked about mortgages and a mortgage broker suggested there was one company that offered ex-pat student buy-to-lets but wanted several thousands pounds for set-up fee. My questions: 1) I did not mention my mother would be paying the deposit with me taking the loan and the risk on emergency repairs, but I expect she would want her name on the deeds. Would this complicate getting a mortgage? 2) Should I instead re-mortgage my DSS let house and use that to fund my nephew's student property or base the mortgage on the house I am about to buy, or do a mix of both? 3) Are there more suitable mortgage prospects? 4) Any advice on what professional help I should provide for my nephew, I presume I would need lawyers to draw up contracts both between family members and students, and an accountant to prepare data for tax returns. Are there other services I should consider employing? 5) Any advice for my nephew on being landlord's agent and co-tenant? 6) Any advice for me as absentee landlord?

Hi Everyone, After reading the HMO Landlady Blog regarding maintenance philosophy I'd like to know how I could go about reporting a Landlord for Illegal practice... It was about 3 years ago now while I was at University but he was a terrible landlord of a terrible property which I cant imagine could have conformed to regulations. I'm almost certain its not licensed. And he stole our deposit. (I don't believe it was ever placed in a scheme). Is there a simple way to report the address for the matter to be looked into? Thanks for your help! Arin