How depressing student house is

[topcat2014]

Just dropped DD off for year 2 in Birmingham. Between her and friends they will be paying 30k rent for a victorian terrace.

Honestly it mings.

Shitty worn out white goods.
Sticky floors. Shabby paint. Broken blinds. No shower curtains.

Dd won't care much (thankfully) but I have to earn a grand a month to leave enough to pay her rent.

(Rant over..)

My DD has a lovely student flat she shares with one other girl. I don’t think it’s necessarily the norm

@Nighttimeistherightime that’s appalling. People like him should be banned from being landlords - it’s a total scam. My DDs house this year is pretty grim and also over 3k a month for 4 of them - if it was rented to a family it would be a lot cheaper and also a lot nicer. It’s disgraceful how bad some of them are (mould being a particular issue in hers) and her agents are next to useless. It makes me very angry. Also charging full rent over the summer - in the 90s we only ever paid half.

@RainBow725 The tenancies are usually 59 weeks but students move out over the summer. DD wanted to move a few things in at the beginning of her rental in July and the flat was being decorated. Most landlords get most of the summer and the professional landlords are best. They are organised and they get good tenants because they bother.

Students should not put up with the worst accommodation but they are not discerning buyers. Universities don’t black list accommodation - and they should. But they have all expanded like mad and didn’t care about where students might live.

My DDs first shared house wasn’t too bad. Dated with cheapo furniture but clean, decent sized rooms. The landlord replaced the microwave and front door and blinds. Interesting the kitchen was dated but usable then it was inspected and deemed not fit for purpose with some fire reg breeches but it would have been very disruptive (they wanted to know when it would be vacant over Christmas but when the girls started asking questions like insurance, rent reduction, how to ensure they wouldn’t get blamed if the builders broke anything etc, and the agent said they’d wait til they moved out). The one for this year is fairly minging, but my DD saw it with boys in residence (sorry but her experience has been boys are very messy, not saying girls can’t be too, but so far her female housemates have been meticulous). It’s privately let and she’s not expecting much but its half the rent of last years so she will put up with a lot. At least the bathrooms are new (crap DIY job, but still). She also managed to get a ten month contract so even better. I’ll see it myself next weekend! And contrary to PP, most rentals for non students are pretty good. I rent out two flats and my standard is would I want my kids living there? Students are kinda stuck with what they can find within their budget and distance to uni.

I can see the rental properties have declined in the student areas of Leeds recently. Many landlords have sold up with the change of laws and it’s left expensive crappy properties.

Two of my DDs had similar. They are both quite independent and insisted it was fine, but DD3 in particular found her second year house almost unbearable because of problems with damp. Her final year house had a leak in the roof that the landlord said didn't need fixing, but that caused huge damp and mould issues.

Do make sure he takes time stamped photographs of every single thing. Each wall, the bathroom, the appliances, the carpets. DD3's landlord tried to bill them for damage caused by work he had carried out and for clearing furniture that he had brought over to the house!

I couldn’t have my child live in one like that. Although I appreciate it’s not black and white. Son said if he goes to uni after A levels he’s going to a local one.

This is why mine are in private halls of residence. All the rooms are the same size, not carved up from a family home and a toilet each as they are all en-suite so you only have to clean up after yourself in the bathroom.

I know people will say it is expensive but for Ds1 he was paying less for that than some of his mates who were sharing a house in a "desirable" part of the town. I don't know about Ds2 as his mates are all in the private halls.

let the Uni accommodation team know = certainly at my DS's Uni the accommodation team took up issues with bad landlords on behalf of students.

DD lived near Pebble Mill in Birmingham for two years as a student. House was cold and dark and stairs were steep like on a ship. She was very happy there. It’s called being a student. I just made excuses so as not to take her grandma there.

DD’s student house is fabulous - 6 bedrooms with 6 en suites and only 5 of them living there so they have a guest room. The kitchen is brand new and it has woooden flooring and nice furniture throughout. Son’s accommodation though, in a different city, was truly dire but it was also very cheap so he got what he paid for

We called my DDs the Grott Squat for good reason.

DD student house in £21k pa and its old and damp, but clean. A non student rental would be cheaper and significantly nicer (I have checked). Its a racket.

Thanks for all replies. There are 5 of them each paying 6k.

Get onto the letting agent with a list - my DD lived in a minging shared flat up north. But after complaints a lot of things were sorted. (The rank carpet binned and laminate put down for one) . If no one reports these things , nothing will change.

My DS is renting in Glasgow and all the flats have been grotty with various problems but at least his latest one has a living room even if the kitchen and bathroom are tiny. He has to rent it for 12 months which means staying in town and working all summer, we hardly see him. At least we all used to go off and do different things over the summer.
he says one problem he has encountered is that landlords with nicer properties will often only rent to groups of girls!

Dd had her 2nd year in a slum dwelling.
Landlord was charging £850 a month to the 9 who lived there.

I mean it still should not be damp or mouldy, but tbh £500 pm is pretty cheap. Less than ds paid in Lboro and half what a friend is paying for their DS in Bristol.

Luckily students don’t seem to care. One of mine was up north, 6 of them paying £9 grand a year each for grotty, damp, mouldy, creaky old houses with carpets and furniture that had seen better days. Each time they moved DC said “oh it’s quite nice isn’t it?” and I’m thinking 😟😟 But hey, I’m not living there, just paying the extortionate cost 🙄

£500 a month is cheap! No wonder it’s grotty. Students often look for the cheapest because one or two in the group want this and prefer money to go drinking.

DD had similar with a girl who wanted to travel home more often (to shoot pheasants - I kid you not!). Flat was decent enough though and had a dining table for dinner parties. When they need flatmates they have to accommodate these foibles though. DD was in y4, so many friends had left after 3 years, and it became more tricky to find flatmates - but they have to rub along. Said girl also wanted a reduction in her contributions because she wanted, and bagged, the smallest room before anyone else turned up.

Running an airbnb is a very different thing though - you need cleaners for each changeover, a linen service, pots and pans and crockery/cutlery on site etc.

@qamvbm What Airbnb is £500 a month in a student city? Very few probably. But yes, maybe students should take them?

My son has rented in Worcester for the last 2 years. Can't say his rooms were plush, I'd say adequate, but both houses had decent kitchens, bathrooms and lounges. Also very clean when they moved in.
I think you have to look very quickly to get decent accommodation

Landlords treat students like cattle unfortunately

Huh
Just another 'Bash the Landlord'
How many parents would let their sons / daughters live in their house with no adult supervision?
So a landlord buys a property and risks £100,000s letting to a group of just adults (18 year old students) who have little experience of looking after a home or let alone themselves.
I have twice had British students point to a vacuum cleaner and say 'I know what it is but I have never used one'. Cleaning Products........dream on
I won't go on to list the disgusting things I have had to clear up / the damage I have had to repair / the bad debts I have put up with / the appalling behaviour of some of my tenants.