Councils are seeking to make HMOs into a category of housing they can control, like hotels, which means that for a new landlord, letting to sharers is highly risky. What if your property is changed to C4 cateogry, and the Council won’t let you change back to C3 (a normal residential house)? You will be forced to continue letting to groups, not families, or sell the property to a normal buyer: you will only be sell your HMO to another landlord, instantly cutting the amount of demand the the value of the house. Councils like Portsmouth claim landlords will always be able to convert back from HMO to C3, but they can’t be trusted: all it needs is an anti-HMO zealot regime to take over, and landlords will be stuffed, because councils are free to make up their own rules for Article 4 directions. Landlords are going to vote with their feet and exit the HMO market, or start putting up their proces to protect themselves against the extra risks.

[1] Ask of your student tenants that they treat your rented property as their parents would expect them to treat their own house.
[2] Treat the students as you would hope your children would be treated when they were or will become student tenants.
[3] Do not be too mercenary with the rent you charge.
[4] Unless the house furnishings are in a very bad state, do not refurbish your property at the expence of increasing the rent,so long as the furnishing are reasonable they will suffice.
[5] Treat the students fairly and you will in my experience find that they will reciprocate. I have been renting to students for 12 years, and have had a few bad experiences but in the main only good experiences

Since going this route I have had warm, happy tenants and mould free houses. It might be a few hours more work for me during the tenancy but it is several days less work between tenancies now I don’t have the condensation damage issue to deal with.

Just to clarify RE electric heaters. The landlord we originally spoke to was wondering about installing heaters in rooms so that they can be heated individually, but that the landlord could check and maintain them from a health and safety point of view. I am sure that coastwise there would be little difference to the tenants.

KenB perhaps then the issue is with ‘perceived fuel poverty’ – the tenants think that it will cost too much to put the heating on, fuel prices are a bit of a hot topic at the moment. And your points on mould are spot on, its surprising (or not) how often we hear from landlords who’s tenants don’t ever open windows, but dry all their laundry indoors and then complain of a damp problem!

As of April 2010, all prepay meter customers now pay the same or less than quarterly billed prices.

And I have proved ( by checking the heaters when running) that running a couple of electric heaters can cost as much or more than using the central heating which would heat the whole house, in a normal size house, so students need to be careful here. The problem with damp and mould would also be exacerbated heating only certain rooms.

Regards

Linda

What we find surprising is the claim of fuel poverty – in a typical 5 student house to keep the central heating on most of the day would cost in the region of £150 to £200 in a cold spell. Shared between 5 this comes out at £30 to £40 a month – less than the likely cost of a night out for keeping warm for a whole month!!!!!

I’ve got a couple of points in response to the above article (all my own views).

Portable heaters tend to be more expensive than normal central heating.
Portable heaters can cost twice as much as natural gas (http://www.mge.com/home/appliances/spaceheaters.htm). It may be a better option to use central heating but just turn it down a few degrees!
Just turning your thermostat down a few degrees can make a big difference in the long run (http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/tip-2-turn-your-thermostat-down-3-degrees/).

However, I did find an article that disagrees with me!
http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/heating-water-and-electricity/reviews/portable-heaters/page/faqs/

I think it depends on how the heaters are being used.

Another problem with tenants using portable heaters as opposed to using the central heating is that not all of the house will be heated.
This can result in more condensation and damp which can lead to problems with mould.
To resolve these issues can prove costly.

Poor insulation, as mentioned above, can result in much wasted energy (and therefore lost money!) – which is clearly not good for students living on a budget.
I do think that houses should be properly insulated – in roof cavities, double glazing and draft saving measures.
You can buy door draft excluder for less than £10.
Some companies are also offering free wall cavity insulation (http://www.tescohomeefficiency.com/home-insulation/?gclid=CM6PxriUoK4CFYUgfAodLihzRg).

As stated above, prepayment meters can be installed by energy companies who are chasing outstanding debts. But often they are more expensive for tenants.
Sometimes the unit rates will be a lot higher.

In terms of the wall mounted electric heaters, I don’t really see the difference between using those and a portable heater?
Not sure if I’ve missed the point a bit on this one!
The heater will only heat the room that it is in and so could still result in other rooms having damp and condensation.

I wouldn’t recommend landlords installing prepayment meters into their properties for the reasons listed above. They can also be expensive to remove if the landlord changes their mind in the future.

Feel free to let me know if you completely disagree!

Grace
03332401834
grace.williams@glide.uk.com
@graceglide