We get an awful lot of landlords asking us when do the students in Aberystwyth look for houses? We were at a meeting only last week at the Glengower (working lunch, lovely!) where the landlords were asking when the housing search starts and ends. So what better way to answer the question than creating a post on our website?
If you are new to renting your property to the student market, then you need to know some key dates. In Aberystwyth, and most University towns and cities, term will start near the end of September. The first term is the longest, running until mid December, when the students then get a lovely holiday for the festive reason – returning in January for the dreaded exams.
In terms of looking for houses, for Aberystwyth, the housing “season” tends to kick off sometime between October and November. In general, the Student Union hold a housing fair here at the end of November, but students are advised both by the University, Student Union and some letting agents not to rush. There isn’t a shortage of housing in Aberystwyth now, so rushing to get the first house you spot on Zoopla or Facebook isn’t needed.
With that in mind, there has been a shift in the market, with a number of students looking for their houses in February and March (exams in January mean it’s usually a no go). So, during our meeting last week with a worried landlord of a number of rooms, we were able to ease the worry knowing that there will be a number of students searching over the coming months.
So, the key dates for when students are searching for houses:
- Keen students and usually 2nd or 3rd years start looking in October – mid December
- 1st years especially and other students return to the search February – April
- International students and Erasmus students tend to look May & June
For the most part, tenancies for students run on a 51 week basis, often starting in June or July across the town. Our advice to new landlords going into the student market would be that June is a key date for your changeover, many students will be leaving their University accommodation in the first week or two of June, and are keen to have properties available to them for storage over the summer. It just makes that property a little bit more appealing compared to those not available until July or August.