Property investors target students

photo credit: Menlo School

As previously reported on this blog, students can no longer be looked upon as the penniless, scruffy little nerds they were back in the 1980s. These days the hordes of university goers which swamp chain bars across the UK are an altogether fancier bunch.

A collection of haircuts and Topshop t-shirts, ’studeys’ are often not actually that poor any more. This is largely down to the arrival of tuition fees combined with a decade of New Labour-inspired growth which put plenty of cash in the pockets of parents keen to send their kids off to study with a bit more than just a cardboard box full of tinned beans and a four pack of Skol.

Yuppies out, Slicas in

The result is that investing in student property is highly profitable, with rents in university towns across countries like the UK higher than in other areas. The latest twist is the naming of the more select members of the student population. You’ve met ‘Yachties’ and ‘Yuppies’, now prepare to target ‘Slicas’.

The Slica or Student Living In Comfort And Style, has emerged following research carried out by the University of East London for UNITE Group, which specialises in providing posh student digs. The study found a growing disparity in expectations of student lifestyles, with a growing number of students looking for ‘exceptional’ accommodation.

Rents at £195 per week

The result? Unite has responded by launching ‘premium city studio apartments’, entitled the London Studio Collection. Highlights include flat screen plasma TVs, 24-hour security, a concierge service and designer interiors featuring furniture from the James Bond film, Casino Royale. The rent? It STARTS at £195 per week, proving there’s cash out there in those previously troublesome and broke student tenants. A ready-made market for property investors who have turned into landlords.

Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate investing, property, property investment, students