Summer rental

With an estimated 25,066 student bed spaces across Liverpool, the summer months present a unique challenge for private landlords and universities as they look to keep their investments ticking over. As the city’s students gear up for graduation and pack up for their extended summer breaks, Your Move looks at how accommodation providers deal with their absence.

Words by Lawrence Saunders

A 2015 independent review into the future of student accommodation in Liverpool put the student population at a stable 50,000. The

city’s four universities estimate that around 30,000 of these students need somewhere to stay – developers set the figure at a slightly higher 34,000.

Whichever figure is closest, it’s clear the city’s significant student population has become an integral part of its economy. The average spend per student is estimated at £20,175 which works out at over £1 billion across the entire community.

A sizable chunk of a student’s spending of course goes on accommodation. How private landlords and universities alike deal with a shortfall in rental income from their investments as many students head home during the summer differs across the sector.

“During the summer months our houses are not usually occupied because we have an extensive turnaround programme,” says John Blythe, director of accommod8, which provides student houses and apartments for rent across Liverpool, maintaining close links with Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU).

“Every property has to be formally checked, an inspection carried out and then we have a clearance team, a repairs team, a safety team and then a cleaning team.

“We want to make sure that everything is done right because when you factor in deposit protection regulations, your paperwork has to be spot on and your procedures have to be absolutely watertight.

“It has to be coordinated and oddly for us, although we have no tenants in occupation, it’s actually our busiest time of the year.

“We charge half rent over the summer as we can’t guarantee access to the property which is quite different from the halls which will be trying to generate revenue.”

As John suggests, the situation with university halls of residence over the summer is a different story as universities look to maximise income during the break.

“It’s about making sure the university is being used to its full capacity,” says Tammy Buckland, conference manager at Liverpool Hope University, which is responsible for selling accommodation at the university’s two campuses, Hope Park in Childwall and the Creative Campus in the city centre.

“Any money that’s generated over the summer period goes back into the university to be used on other services which benefit the campuses and their students.

“The people who rent out our halls during the summer are made up of general ‘Joe Bloggs’ wanting accommodation in Liverpool, right up to large residential conferences with 500 people.

“We get a real mixture of people using our rooms during the summer including quite a lot of residential visits from America which can include students who are working in local schools, staying on a full-board basis.”

“The people who rent out our halls during the summer are made up of general ‘Joe Bloggs’ right up to large conferences with 500 people.”

What happens to this accommodation during the summer months is often dependent on the length of time each room is vacant. Most tenants are either on a 48-week contract taking them up until the beginning of August or a 44-week contract where they will be expected to move out around the start of July.

“If they’re on a 44-week tenancy and we’ve got a good six weeks during the summer then we will look to do short-term lets – turn them around quickly and get someone else in there,” explains Michelle Willmott, lettings manager at L1 Student Lettings, which operates four large student developments in the city centre.

“If a property is going to be empty for around a month before a new tenant is due to move in then again it’s a case of seeing if we have anyone. Sometimes if we have a tenant moving from one flat to another we will need to use a third one for a few days whilst one is being readied – flat juggling is popular here.”

Exactly who private landlords and accommodation providers can let their properties out to over the summer is somewhat of a grey area, partly due to issues surrounding council tax payments as all university lodgings are registered for council tax exemption.

“There are issues around council tax if you start letting accommodation to non-students as they are occupied by students during term time so providers may not have the flexibility to let to non-students,” says Amanda Kerr, manager at Liverpool Student Homes (LSH), Liverpool’s official university service for private accommodation, supported by the University of Liverpool, LJMU and Liverpool Hope University.

“We haven’t had any indication from the private developments that they let to non-students per se. If anyone approaches us for accommodation the first thing we need to know is whether or not they’re a student.”

Despite these uncertainties, Michelle is keen to point out no such problem exists as long as landlords and letting agents advise the council that the tenant living at a property over the summer is not a registered student.

“We have a good relationship with the council and we make sure they know that the tenant needs to pay tax and of course we record the relevant details of the tenant in case they do a bunk and don’t pay it,” she explains.

“We get an awful lot of short-term lets from temporary workers over the summer including quite a lot of three-month lets from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM).

“At the moment we’ve also got a number of builders in who are working on some big projects across the city.

“Aside from temporary workers, we also accommodate people who are on placements from different universities but are working whilst they are over here rather than studying.”

Related posts:

Buy-to-let in South Liverpool: Students shift to city centre Buy-to-let boom: Liverpool’s thriving rental market Where to buy: A guide to Liverpool living Security deposit cap: How will new legislation impact landlords and tenants? The NWPAs 2017 – The winners 3 ways to make the most of your student home