Public demands action as student housing market faces uncertainty

I honestly think Universities should be providing student accommodation, whether on or off campus, and not relying on the PRS.

Reply to the comment left by Judith Wordsworth at 05/03/2024 - 10:14Judith, I don't know how you can say such a thing. I have student houses and I know they love living in them usually in their second year. I have been told they like the independence, and the location as my houses are in a good positions, unlike a lot of the university accommodation. I have heard frequently that my students have refused their university accommodation as they prefer mine. I've never had any anti-social behavior in all the 45 years I have been letting to students.
This article is spot on. The Renters Reform Bill will be a disaster for student accommodation in the PRS. There are proposals that landlords of student accommodation will have the right to evict tenants to fit into the academic year which will ensure the house for the students to follow on in the summertime. It's a bit of a help (that is if this proposal goes through) but really only fixed term tenancies for student houses will suffice. They should be on a par with PBSA and universities. At present the system works. If it ain't broke then don't fix it.

The fact that in 2017 the Scottish government introduced Private Residential Tenancy agreements is highly significant. This law prevented ordinary landlords from offering fixed term tenancies to students, whereas PBSA, much more likely to be corporate owned, was still allowed the option to offer fixed-term tenancies. In my view this PROVES that UK government discrimination by TYPE of landlord is the goal. It is blatant and I suspect PRT in Scotland was a trial run for the long planned Renters Reform Bill and corporatisation by the government of the UK PRS as a whole. The fact that it is causing so much chaos and distress for students and landlords alike seems not to matter one whit to this vile and corrupt government who clearly have planned the same corporate sell-out, and hence fate, for students and landlords south of the border.

The public demands that the government does something?
Its the government doing something that has caused this problem in the first place, after all landlords have been demonised for such a long time any government feels the pressure to 'do something' about those terrible landlords.
Best course of action is for the government and local authorities to stay out of the way of what is effectively a private contract between a customer and a supplier. 20 years ago if a tenant wasn't happy with their accommodation or their landlord then they moved on as there was plenty of competition and the landlord had a choice of improve the property or reduce the price.
Now that all these actions the government has done we now have a better quality private rental sector that far more expensive and not as accessible. The by product is a huge rise in homelessness , increased rents and a smaller private sector although never expect a public servant either national or local to understand or apologise!

Reply to the comment left by Michael Johnson - Amzac Estates at 05/03/2024 - 14:49
That's absolutely right. The government plays politics with the tenants' homes and the Landlords' livelihood.

Reply to the comment left by Judith Wordsworth at 05/03/2024 - 10:14
Judith, I second Yvonne on this one. In our town we have enough PBSA for year 1 students only, and the PRS caters for years 2, 3 and masters. I am pretty well at PRS market rates which are currently running at about £200-300 per month cheaper than the PBSA rates. That's a huge differential, recognised by most students, and they all say that they save considerably in the PRS. Mine are all good quality ... alas I can't say the same for all the others, but then that's the consequence of Osborne and all the other bashing that has driven so many out the market.