Worth keeping in mind when people complain there’s too many purpose built student accommodation projects
>The cross party group on housing report reveals a shortage of 13,852 student bed spaces in Edinburgh, 6,093 in Glasgow, and 6,084 in Dundee.
I am all for them. Can’t actually see an issue.
I’ve been a student landlord in Edinburgh for over 20 years. I’m also a Scots qualified solicitor with considerable experience in both landlord and tenant, licensing and commercial property. I wonder why I never get consulted on stuff like this. Edinburgh Council fine well knows I’m a lawyer, as I’ve had to keep them right on a few occasions.
Anyway, I run at around £1-1.2k per month in extra expenses due to licensing requirements that have been introduced in the last 12 or so years. Most of them very good ideas re fire safety, but many over the top (such as chaining cookers to walls and having to fit £650 fire proof letter boxes that are only allowed to be installed by one authorised company in Edinburgh). I’ve also been a student in another European country recently. No country provides such heavily inspected, heavily state-overseen student housing as Scotland. Standard lenders won’t even lend on it because its so over-regulated now.
My student tenants used to be fairly independent. Now they phone or email me and complain when a light bulb needs replaced, or they can’t find their wifi router. Thats what over-regulation encourages. If you create a lettings market where tenants cannot even be trusted to have the choice to leave their own bedroom doors open, you create certain expectations which are not necessarily realistic.
The big issue for student lettings is that recent Scottish legislation (promoted by Patrick Harvie) prevents leases being signed and deposits taken more than a month before the lease is due to start. This discourages tenants who leave after exams in the spring from having the security of a lease in place (its also not helpful if you’re relocating for work and want to know where you will be living in 2 or 3 months time). Many student landlords will no longer do holiday lets to cover the 3 months in the summer while the students tend to be away, because that requires a short term holiday let license (halls of residence are exempt). Every year starting from now, I receive many enquiries from desperate students who have not secured accommodation before they leave earlier in the summer. I used to have my leases signed in February for starting in June. I can see me moving out of the student market entirely if I cannot get the properties let in June, because I cannot have them sitting empty all summer (I refuse to do festival lets any more because they create so much damage and general mayhem).
The other big problem, which doesn’t really affect the student market too much, but which makes lenders nervous, is the lack of a minimum duration tenancy in Scotland. Its now illegal to have say a one or two year lease. It must be open-ended and able to be terminated by the tenant on one month’s notice (two months for landlords).
Does this report take into account the student accommodation projects that have been approved or are in development? I.e. Is this the student bed spaces shortfall right now, or the shortfall even with what’s been approved and things aren’t moving fast enough?
4 comments
Worth keeping in mind when people complain there’s too many purpose built student accommodation projects
>The cross party group on housing report reveals a shortage of 13,852 student bed spaces in Edinburgh, 6,093 in Glasgow, and 6,084 in Dundee.
I am all for them. Can’t actually see an issue.
I’ve been a student landlord in Edinburgh for over 20 years. I’m also a Scots qualified solicitor with considerable experience in both landlord and tenant, licensing and commercial property. I wonder why I never get consulted on stuff like this. Edinburgh Council fine well knows I’m a lawyer, as I’ve had to keep them right on a few occasions.
Anyway, I run at around £1-1.2k per month in extra expenses due to licensing requirements that have been introduced in the last 12 or so years. Most of them very good ideas re fire safety, but many over the top (such as chaining cookers to walls and having to fit £650 fire proof letter boxes that are only allowed to be installed by one authorised company in Edinburgh). I’ve also been a student in another European country recently. No country provides such heavily inspected, heavily state-overseen student housing as Scotland. Standard lenders won’t even lend on it because its so over-regulated now.
My student tenants used to be fairly independent. Now they phone or email me and complain when a light bulb needs replaced, or they can’t find their wifi router. Thats what over-regulation encourages. If you create a lettings market where tenants cannot even be trusted to have the choice to leave their own bedroom doors open, you create certain expectations which are not necessarily realistic.
The big issue for student lettings is that recent Scottish legislation (promoted by Patrick Harvie) prevents leases being signed and deposits taken more than a month before the lease is due to start. This discourages tenants who leave after exams in the spring from having the security of a lease in place (its also not helpful if you’re relocating for work and want to know where you will be living in 2 or 3 months time). Many student landlords will no longer do holiday lets to cover the 3 months in the summer while the students tend to be away, because that requires a short term holiday let license (halls of residence are exempt). Every year starting from now, I receive many enquiries from desperate students who have not secured accommodation before they leave earlier in the summer. I used to have my leases signed in February for starting in June. I can see me moving out of the student market entirely if I cannot get the properties let in June, because I cannot have them sitting empty all summer (I refuse to do festival lets any more because they create so much damage and general mayhem).
The other big problem, which doesn’t really affect the student market too much, but which makes lenders nervous, is the lack of a minimum duration tenancy in Scotland. Its now illegal to have say a one or two year lease. It must be open-ended and able to be terminated by the tenant on one month’s notice (two months for landlords).
Does this report take into account the student accommodation projects that have been approved or are in development? I.e. Is this the student bed spaces shortfall right now, or the shortfall even with what’s been approved and things aren’t moving fast enough?