Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

Has anyone bought a uni house for their student child?

67 replies

EeesandWhizz · 27/09/2023 10:51

Back in the 90's a few of my friends parents bought a house for them while they were at university. Friends moved in and essentially paid the mortgage, bills were split and the houses sold again after 3 years (making a tidy profit).

Is this still a thing? Is it still possible for friends to share a house in a lodger type of agreement? Do you know of anyone that has done it or have you/are you?

OP posts:

TiptopTommy · 27/09/2023 15:51

Geneticsbunny · 27/09/2023 15:48

Might be worth noting that there are often local planning regulations in place to maintain a balance between long term residents and students which would theoretically make this impossible in certain areas. For example any house in the heavily student area of the city I live in can not be used as an HMO (more then two unrelated people living in the same house) unless it is already currently an HMO. I.e. no new HMOs. So anyone buying a regular family house and using it as an HMO would be in breach of planning permission as it is a different land usage than normal residential housing.

This is also the case where I live. (We may live in the same place I suppose!)

Sunshinenrain · 27/09/2023 15:59

I know someone who did it (very wealthy) but it was a one bedroom flat which he bought for his DD.

After uni she stayed there for a couple of years working and then decided to move away.

He then kept it and rented it out to other people.
I don’t know if he’s still got it or sold it.

If I had the money and what I hope to do, is to encourage my DD into halls for the first year and then get a 1 bed flat for her to live in for the rest of the course, as I think it works out cheaper than most student accommodation rent.

I don’t think I’d buy anything larger than a 1 bed though as I wouldn’t want to be a landlord to other people.

TadpolesInPool · 27/09/2023 15:59

In my 2nd year I moved into a house that was owned by my friend's parents. It was a nightmare and totally broke up the previously excellent friendship group .

The house was in a terrible state. Worst place Ive ever rented. We hadn't been able to visit before they bought so rented it "unseen".

Any problems took MONTHS to fix because landlords lived overseas. They complained that we weren't helping our friend fix the house, we complained cos its a landlord's responsibility plus we were never allowed to see any bills. She squirrelled them away and just told us how much we owed her.

Some bits of the house were downright dangerous.

Friend never wanted to get anything fixed cos it was too expensive for her parents.

I moved out when my contract was up and never spoke to her again.

Sunshinenrain · 27/09/2023 16:22

In my 2nd year I moved into a house that was owned by my friend's parents. It was a nightmare and totally broke up the previously excellent friendship group .

You situation sounds awful but this is why I’d be concerned renting it out to multiple students.

I feel it’s a lot of pressure on my child if a housemate broke something or was regularly irresponsible and I was annoyed or the other way around and they felt I wasn’t a good landlord.

It would be putting them in the middle of me their parent/landlord and their friendship group.

If I wasn’t a good landlord that would reflect badly on my DD.
Or if one of her friends was an idiot and I evicted them then they might indirectly blame her for my actions.

TravellingT · 27/09/2023 16:28

My sister has for her daughter. A 3 bed town house she's sharing with her best friend. It's good for her to get on the property ladder- she's working to pay for her food and bills and gets experience in budgeting and running a house. She is very sensible, independent, drives etc so no partying or childishness.

We intend to buy houses for our children, whether they're at uni or not

Badbadbunny · 27/09/2023 16:33

We very nearly did it. Had sourced a property, offer accepted, etc. in York, but then DS changed his mind as to which Uni he was going to due to covid, and decided against York, so we had to pull out.

Fast forward 3 years, he's now left Uni and got his first proper job - at York! Doh! So now he has to pay an arm and a leg to rent a flat, when if he'd gone to York Uni as planned, he could have just continued to live in the same place and continued to rent out the spare room as was the original plan.

Over the 3 years, prices have risen enormously in York, so now buying a property is many tens of thousands more expensive, not to mention that properties are now very hard to buy/rent due to a massive increase in demand!

Best laid plans and all that ......

linelgreen · 27/09/2023 16:42

We have done this and they have been the best investments we have made although we did not benefit ourselves from the increase in property price but we had the reassurance that kids were living in a nice property that was well maintained. If you look for a smallish house and buy it in the DS/DD name on a joint borrower sole proprietor mortgage then as the house/flat belongs to DS/DD you don't have to pay the second property stamp duty so saving yourself 3%. Then as its DS/DD main residence it can be sold by them with no CGT to pay when they graduate bonus here is they then get the profit on property which they can then use to fund deposit for their first mortgage. If you look for just a 2 bed property then they can have a lodger and charge them without the need for the mortgage to be on a more expensive buy to let basis this will not work if you want a larger property that you want to let to multiple students.

pontipinemum · 27/09/2023 16:42

A guys I knew at Uni had that arrangement. I was very very jealous. His parents fairly insisted all the siblings go to uni in the same city though.

It is something I would consider for DS but he's 1 so long time to think about it.

If you an afford it I think it's a good idea.

madeleine85 · 27/09/2023 17:02

My parents did this around 15 years ago. I'd echo the comments on HMO. We had to get licensed by the end which I think had to go through two government bodies (from memory) and was a bit painful tbh. Also double check council tax requirements, where we were students were exempt which was nice. The flat really did pay for itself with myself and 3 others there, in a nice area, and appreciated value in that time.

Kat126 · 27/09/2023 17:09

I would never want to purely based on how my flatmates in halls and housemates beyond first year left the properties… I was always the tidy one and that was stressful enough trying to get others on board with basic hygiene and tidiness. I think it’d be a nightmare as the child of the parents who are essentially the landlady/lord.

CateringPanic · 27/09/2023 17:12

I lived in a set up like this at uni (12 years ago), lived in a house owned by someone else’s parents. To give the other side of things it created a weird power dynamic in the house and I really regret doing it. Definitely missed out on part of the student experience!

Theworried2 · 27/09/2023 17:23

@CateringPanic Did it create tension in the house? Or were there other problems

Tessasanderson · 27/09/2023 17:24

You are basically asking if BTL is a good idea. With the slightly added benefit of your own sibling using one of the rooms for 3-5 yearsso its slightly better value.

My answer would be look at all the posts on BTL properties, the extra tax, the extra barriers to jump (EPC etc) the higher BTL mortgage rates and the static market.

The BTL market was strong for a long time. My gut feeling is that its not quite so guarenteed as it was.

mathanxiety · 27/09/2023 17:26

It's more like taking a lodger (or two) though.

anicecuppateaa · 27/09/2023 17:29

My parents did it for my sister and friends 10 years ago. They had formal contracts though (at lower than market rate). It is still rented out now, but through a lettings agency.

Bobbotgegrinch · 27/09/2023 17:35

If you're going to do this make sure it's what your kid actually wants.

I had a house and housemates all sorted and then my parents declared that they were buying a house.

Wasn't big enough for me and all my mates so they replaced me and I had to live with a couple of randoms.

Put a real dent in my relationship with my parents. They made a bunch of money though so that's ok!

SpringSummerDreamer · 27/09/2023 17:51

This was very common in the 1980s. Usually parents from the South buying properties in the Midlands/North as the prices seemed astonishingly cheap to them. From what I remember, their children were confident people and other housemates generally deferential.. It seemed a strange wealth/power imbalance. Owners all boasted of strong gains in property values (around 50-80%) and sold up to put the profits into the next house deposit when they left uni.

One house was purchased before starting uni and in an area not as popular with students. That girl probably wished her parents had done a bit more research. Luckily she was still able to persuade coursemates to live with her. It's a risk though - students don't want to be out on a limb.

CateringPanic · 27/09/2023 17:52

@Theworried2 yes it was very difficult firstly with the girl who’s dad owned the house acting like she got the final say on everything and telling you off if you did something you didn’t like. It didn’t feel like an equal living environment.

however it was also awkward when something went wrong in the house and her dad was the landlord - you didn’t feel as though you could complain

JemOfAWoman · 27/09/2023 18:50

I did it in York for my son. It was a pain in the backside after the first year, one of his mates was taking the mick and really untidy. At the end of his 5 years (medicine) I sold it and covered all my costs plus I didn't have to pay for any accommodation for him. I wouldn't do it with the intention of making a profit but as a way of not lining the pockets of a landlord who exploits students!

TizerorFizz · 27/09/2023 18:56

We have a London flat and DD2 decided to go to uni in the same area, so from y2, she used it. DD2 was also doing a post grad course at the same time so it was a student flat but only our students!

We kept ownership. It wasn’t mortgaged. DDs didn’t have ownership transferred to them or they would not be classed as first time buyers in the future. That can matter. Unless you live in the property, it’s not having a lodger. If your syydent owns it, they could take a lodger. There are rules about HMOs. Size being one. Reading the rules and requirements is important.

We have made money on it as we’ve had it for 10 years now: but buying now??? Big risk. Lots of rules and mortgages are so high now. I cannot see much sense in it unless you have the money and don’t need to borrow. Cheap areas might be the exception and I’ve known people use inheritance for this.

PreetyinPurple · 27/09/2023 19:17

I had been hoping to do this for DD. She’s autistic and I can’t see halls/sharing working for her at all. We don’t have enough to buy outright the prices now, so it would have to be a mortgage on top, although we don’t have one ourselves now.
DH had wanted to keep his parents place for this purpose. However it’s too far and it was in a dreadful condition and although in a perfect location if DD did go there it really was not suitable.

sarsaparillatree · 27/09/2023 19:30

We did it (early 2000's) and made a good profit when we sold it. My daughter had a hell of a time over council tax however, which took ages to sort out, basically through the council's incompetance. There shouldn't have been any liability because our student daughter was a live in landlord to students so it wasn't an HMO, kept explaining that, council said OK then a month or two later there would be a bill because they thought it was an HMO again.

Eventually, after a couple of years, a senior person at the council looked into it and confirmed there was no liability and apologised. I assume rules on HMOs have changed since then, so going this route might not be as easy.

Delphigirl · 27/09/2023 19:38

I bought my own house at uni in Manchester as a 19 yo. 100% mortgage and shared with three friends who paid me rent. It was a fab place. When I left uni I rented it to more students and It then provided me an income through 2 years at law school in London and another 2 years as a trainee solicitor in the City and I sold it after 6 years because I was buying a house in London and it was hindering me getting the mortgsge I wanted.
it was great but that’s because it was so cheap to buy! Also would have been better if I had a longer course. These days the HMO thing makes things tricky.

mondaytosunday · 27/09/2023 21:13

I know someone who was considering doing this but checked out that there were restrictions on letting to students (would have been ok when her son was there but not afterwards). Her son is already in Year 2 so can't rely on making a profit in two years and be restricted to long term rentals afterwards. But back in my day (80s), I know a few parents who did this and made a decent profit. Interest rates were even higher then, but property cheaper.

GodessOfThunder · 27/09/2023 21:31

I know someone who did - a very exploitative practice!

Flip

1 2 3