The student lettings market exists to provide affordable and flexible term time homes to the growing number of domestic and international students who choose to study in the UK.

As one of the most established sub-sections of the private rented sector, the student lettings market has matured as investors have honed their offering to meet the needs of their young tenants. Today, this evolution continues as landlords respond to a customer base that demands higher quality homes.

Richard Rowntree, Managing Director for Mortgages, introduces the Student Buy-to-let Report 2022 below. Download the report here.

The UK’s higher education system is made up of more than 150 institutions that can be found across each of the home nations.

Some of the UK’s universities are considered amongst the world’s oldest, existing to further knowledge from as early as the 11th century. Since then, many more institutions have formed, gradually expanding teaching from classical subjects such as astronomy, law and mathematics to the broad and forward-facing mix of courses available today. With such an extensive and eminent past, it is unsurprising that UK universities have played a part in educating some of history’s most revered scholars – names such as Mahatma Gandhi, Stephen Hawking and Florence Nightingale are just three forming an extensive list.

This reputation helps UK universities to be known around the globe, with only the USA’s 5,000 plus establishments attracting more foreign learners. The hundreds of thousands of international students who enrol on a UK university accredited degree course each year form a population exceeding two million, a number that hints at the value of higher education to the UK economy.

Research by Frontier Economics, commissioned by Universities UK in 2021, found that universities contribute around £95 billion to the economy and support more than 815,000 jobs. As this analysis only covers England, it is likely that the total contribution across the UK is notably higher.

This figure includes revenue generated by other associated industries, one of which is accommodation for the many students who choose to move away from home to study.

Enrolling onto an undergraduate degree course often marks the first time that students have to fend for themselves, away from the creature comforts of their family home. As a result, where they choose to stay plays an important part in their lives while studying.

This has not gone unnoticed, and the choice and standard of student accommodation has improved considerably since the days of dingy student digs. Funded by large-scale institutional investment, purpose-built student accommodation developments have sprung up in the major university towns and cities while homes rented from individual buy-to-let landlords have long been a popular choice amongst learners.

We’ve explored different aspects of student lettings, such as demand, perceived risks and yield generation potential. Alongside this, we have also spoken to students to find out what they look for in their term-time accommodation and how they view their landlord. The result is a report that provides landlords with insight on what is one of the most established yet relatively niche sub-sections of the private rented sector.

Richard Rowntree
Managing Director for Mortgages