With students tramping the highways looking for accommodation just now, land lords can't help but consider the option of renting to them. It's a thorny subject but many property owners see the advantage of renting to a group who can't afford to be too fussy about the accommodation on offer and are almost sure to vacate within nine months, thereby enabling landlords to short let for the summer, or simply re-let at a higher rent.
And with five or six students squeezing into a three-bed flat or house, landlords can often net a higher rent all round than if renting to an individual or a couple. Students with strong financial backing from parents are often able to pay good rent. UCD's Student Welfare Officer, Alison Gibney, makes the point. "Many students are backed by parents and have steady grants and make extra money with part-time work so they will pay the rent. They are also studying and are hardly likely to party more than any other group of young people."
But shorter tenancy agreements can scare landlords who worry about being left with vacant premises for a couple of months every year. They also worry about too many students crowding into too small a space. Greater numbers can mean more wear and tear on the property and the risk of students damaging the furniture. The shortage of rental accommodation for students is simply a reflection of the greater crisis in rental accommodation throughout the community. The squeeze is always on students at this time of year but it's a busy time in the rental market anyway and landlords are generally in a position to pick and choose the tenants they want at the rent they demand. Most of the big letting agencies don't handle the sort of property students are after. Properties that don't meet local authority standards are also thrown at students. And since students don't generally claim tax allowances, they can also be targeted by rogue landlords evading tax.
Students tend to find accommodation either through college accommodation offices or through newspaper ads by scrambling for early editions of the publications.
"We don't deal with that market at all," says Katherina Cahill, of Home Locators. "The landlords aren't keen on students. They want people who can guarantee they will stay a year and the rents are generally too much for the average student. And investors also worry that wear and tear will be greater."
Parental guarantees are one way round the problem says Denis Kavanagh, of Gunne. But it's not a fail-safe guarantee either. "Sometimes, two students will come along with a parent who will act as guarantor but then the students will sub-let and you'll end up with four or five people in a two-bedroom apartment instead of two."
Gunne doesn't cater for the student market either but Denis Kavanagh says the agency has rented to students in the past and with success. However, he says, landlords generally have the impression that students like to party and cause disturbances. One of the problems is that students want to live in the same area as the professionals, which is in the south city and along public transport routes such as the DART. "Further out in areas such as Lucan landlords would take students but they aren't interested," he says.
Another problem is that traditional student areas are disappearing. Rathmines was a major catchment area with old period houses sub-divided into endless bed-sits filled by students from UCD and TCD. But not only is there a tendency for these older properties to be turned into family homes, but an increase in the number of colleges such as the DIT and Portobello has put further pressure on an area with diminishing accommodation.
"Students are having to take stuff that a professional wouldn't live in," says Alison Gibney. "If they have nowhere else to live, students are forced to live in squatty bed-sits."
Living on campus is only an option for a limited number of students, mainly those in first year. She says the areas attractive to students are Rathmines, anywhere along the number 10 bus route, and along the DART line. The Coombe and South Circular Road are also favoured. Dundrum is popular, but rents are generally getting too high for students, while Rathfarnham is too far out.
The long-distance commuter is a relatively new phenomenon in UCD. "Some students who have family homes in Dundalk will commute from there and I knew someone else who came up from Carlow every day," says Alison Gibney. "This would have been unthinkable 15 years ago."
For investors willing to eye the student market, bus routes are certainly worth taking into account. Barry Kehoe, DCU's director of student affairs, recommends students should anticipate paying £50/£55 a week each in a three-bed house share, accommodating five students. This is an increase from an average of £40/ £45 last year.
Inevitably, students fare better out of town. About half of the growing student population of about 5,500 in Maynooth needs accommodation locally. Fiona Kenny is housing officer in Maynooth College and says they are not at crisis levels - "at least as yet".
"It's not as bad as in the city. The average for a house share is about £35, or say £32 to £38 depending on whether it's a shared room or single room."
Although some commuters from Dublin are renting out here, the market is more geared to students. As mortgages have risen, Fiona Kenny reports a lot more people are anxious to rent rooms to students. Students also tend to get round the problem of the shorter lease since there are an increasing number of postgraduates around in the summer. Fiona Kenny hasn't found much prejudice against students by investors. "They would have bought into the area knowing that students were the target rental market." But Maynooth has a strong mature student policy and landlords can be reluctant to take students with children or those claiming social welfare rent allowances, she says.
The college has embarked on a campaign to advise students of their rights but this also involves advising them how they must behave. "We tell them about giving proper notice and how they will lose their deposits if they damage the property. It works both ways."
Landlords in Carlow don't all run shy of students either. Yvonne Byrne, of Ray Maher auctioneers says students can often mean a bigger return for the landlord who can rent out a three-bed semi and get a return of £35 to £40 from each student every week. "There's one lease and everyone signs it," she says.
