Creating the perfect student house: top tips
If you are lucky enough to own a rental house within close proximity of a university, you should certainly consider changing it to rent to local students. Continue reading for our top tips about creating the perfect student house.
Fit for purpose
Ensure that the house you have is fit for purpose; you don’t want to be known for being a nightmare landlord. Ones with two reception rooms are ideal for maximising your income as what would have been the dining room can become another bedroom. Although offering a lounge isn’t necessary, it is good to have a reasonably sized communal area for socialising and eating. If your property will be housing in excess of three students, ensure you have at least a second toilet. Locks need to be on each bedroom door otherwise insurance will be impossible to source. If you’re lucky enough to have large rooms, consider making them en suite as you can charge more for them. If you have one room already containing a shower room and toilet, you ought to extra for this room compared to the other standard rooms sharing the main bathroom.
Furnishings
Students will not be expecting plush living conditions, but it is important to make sure that everyone is comfortable and has the basic requirements. At least a single bed, a wardrobe, chest of drawers and preferably a desk too would all be welcomed, although most universities, like Winchester University, have exceptional computer facilities, so many students choose to work from there. Windows need decent curtains or blinds and floors ought to have carpets or wooden flooring. Consider wear and tear and what will need quickly replacing. It is best to pay a bit extra for good quality products. In the lounge area, a couple of sofas should suffice with a large coffee table and a TV bench perhaps. There is no need to provide seating for more people than the number intended to live within the house.
Easy maintenance
On the whole, students don’t care about or have time to concern themselves with the upkeep of gardens or outdoor spaces. Everything within the student let should be easy to maintain. A backyard could contain a small garden table with a couple of chairs on top of concrete, but nothing elaborate is necessary at all. Inside the house, be sure to provide a decent quality vacuum cleaner, mop, bucket, dustpan and brush to ensure that the place can be cleaned easily, although students will be expected to pay for the cleaning products themselves. An inspection once a semester would be useful.
Bills included?
Once the house is ready, you need to decide whether you will make it easier for the students and ensure that bills are included or if they will be arranging the payment for those themselves. It can be challenging to organise gas, electricity, Wi-Fi, television licence and so on with a large group, so most students will aim to choose a property that will make it as straightforward as possible. You could also consider adding in the cost of a weekly clean to ensure that the property is kept in a decent state throughout the year.
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