Students from different countries who come to study in the UK have played a very important role in the buy-to-let market in London.

LDG, an estate agency, which focus on the capital’s West End, observed that many of these students “seek to rent high quality residential properties”; LDG found that as well as that “the majority of overseas students seeking to rent top properties are actually from outside of the European Union. Many of these students are from the Middle East, Asia or in the case of Eastern Europe they come primarily from Russia.”

Javier Carrillo, LDG’s lettings manager, said: “We are seeing foreign students with budgets of up to £1,000 per week”.

Another point that Javier Carrillo pointed out is that “For most students, location is the key factor in choosing an apartment. They do not want to walk for more than five minutes to get to their university and, ideally, would like to see it from their window.”
However, the proximity to the university is not the only factor that can convince overseas student to “go for it”. LDG found that security is seen as very important; not just by the students themselves, but also their parents, who most of time fund their rent.So landlords who offer properties equipped with CCTV cameras may have more chances to attract overseas students.

Carrillo added: “Some students, usually in their first year or those who had previously stayed in halls of residence, want to arrange their accommodation early and then have a holiday, so they will begin renting a flat in June or July but not actually move in until September, thus the rent is being paid on the property three or four months in advance, with nobody actually occupying it.”

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