RELEASE LIVERPOOL STUDENT HOMES E-ZINE
Issue 2 Autumn 2016
Start of year review Website refresh Re-registration Property adverts Liverpool City Council news Market overview
Liverpool Student Homes, 140 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool, L3 5SR 0151 794 3296
@LivStudentHomes
lsh@liverpool.ac.uk
LiverpoolStudentHomes
www.liverpoolstudenthomes.org
WELCOME to the second edition of the LSH E-zine which has replaced the printed version of Release. The first copy was well received with positive feedback and interaction from registered landlords.
START OF YEAR REVIEW October comes round far too quick in the student cycle, no sooner have we welcomed a new intake of first year students we start the ball rolling with re-registration. We begin the new academic year promoting to student the 'LSH Housing Journey' which sets out a time line for students searching for accommodation next year. Despite what some people may think, the majority of students and landlords/agents don't want this process pushed any earlier than before Christmas. This year we saw a clear shift in the pattern of students searching for accommodation with an increase in groups searching past Christmas and continuing up to the Easter period. Footfall through the office remained consistent throughout the year as we welcomed groups of
students taking a more focussed view of finding accommodation. The breakdown of friendship groups or tenants not wishing to continue in pre-signed tenancy remains one of the largest enquiries through the service. It's something to be mindful of when students are put under pressure to sign early. Students seeking advice and support with regards to issues in registered and unregistered properties have kept Ian and James' workload consistently high. Typical issues which have been presented by students include properties not clean or ready at the commencement of a tenancy and general disrepair. Expectations of students continue to increase with a demand for good management of their tenancy and prompt responses to issues raised.
NEW LSH WEBSITE September saw the launch of the newly refreshed LSH Website. Our website is the first landing point for service users, we feel it's important to continue to develop this area to ensure both landlords and students gain the correct information when visiting the site. We have enhanced the advice sections on the front page and placed more emphasis on the student message board, which is a primary tool for students seeking to find a replacement in their tenancy or find additional houses mates to share with. Let us know what you think good or bad! Email your comments to lsh@liverpool.ac.uk
RE-REGISTRATION
DON’T LEAVE IT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE!
Re-registration is now open! You can now register your properties for academic year 2017/18. Simply log onto your landlord portal and start updating your records, pay your registration fee (prices frozen for the third year!) and then you're done. Click here to view our quick guide.
RE-REGISTRATION CHECKLIST LOG ON Log onto your property management page via the LSH website
CHECK THE PROPERTY DETAILS
The launch of property adverts for 2017/18 on our website is Thursday 1st December. To guarantee that your properties will be advertised on this date you must complete the registration process by Friday 18th November. Properties registered after this date will processed in date order.
Check the details on 'Property' tab, rent, photographs and amenities on all the properties you wish to advertise – rent and deposits are on the' Advert' tab!
We have thousands of properties to register in a short space of time so please ensure you follow the registration process and remember to upload or send us up-to-date documentation eg. safety certificates.
UPLOAD LICENCE
We are unable to continually follow up on properties submitted which have not completed the full registration process. Once registered, we will send you Registration Certificates for display in your registered property/ies.
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IMPORTANT DATES
UPLOAD CERTIFICATES Upload your safety certificates – These must be in date at the time of release eg. Valid past 1st December 2016
Ensure you have notified us if you have applied for a license or better still upload your licence
CHECK COMPULSORY REQUIREMENTS Check you have complied with the remaining compulsory requirements which include carbon monoxide detectors and smoke alarms
PAYMENT Finally contact the office and pay for your registration charges
1st December
18th November
Launch day of properties for 2017/18
Registration deadline for adverts to go live on launch day
YOUR PROPERTY ADVERTS CONTACT NUMBERS
Please ensure you have an up-to-date phone number on your property adverts, so that students can contact the correct person if they are interested in the property.
PHOTOGRAPHS
It’s free and simple to upload photographs to your property advert. Not having any photos can discourage students from considering your property as they don’t know what it looks like. Make sure the photos are good quality and show your property at it’s best.
HIGHLIGHTED ADVERTS
For an extra £20 you can choose to highlight your advert which ensures your property appears towards the front of property searches and is a different colour to help it stand out. To request a highlight please contact us. Please note, highlighted adverts do not automatically transfer when you re-register a property, you must let us know during the registration process or at point of payment.
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COUNCIL NEWS BUSINESS RATES The Liverpool City Council motion proposes the following: Council resolves to ask the Mayor to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the Chair and Vice-Chairs of the Local Government Association and the Liverpool MPs to request that councils should be given powers to bring student landlords within the scope of business rates in the same way that hotels, self-catering and holiday lets are within the scope of business rates.
We are disappointed that Liverpool City Council would take this stance in view that the costs of business rates levied on properties would be directly passed to student tenants. In a recent survey published on www.independent.co.uk Liverpool was ranked in the top three affordable universities in the country. This is a huge draw for student choosing Liverpool as a place to study. The University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University issued a joint statement in response to the proposal: Currently, there are over 50,000 students in the city who make an extremely important direct and indirect contribution to the city's economy which equates to approximately ÂŁ300m per year. There is significant concern within both Universities of the impact that the proposed City Council resolution, regarding the charging of business rates to landlords of student properties, will have on the student population in Liverpool. This is likely to result in direct cost increases to students as landlords will undoubtedly pass these costs on directly through rent levels. However, the impact is not simply on current students and their level of disposable income, but on the long term viability and cost effectiveness of students coming to study in Liverpool. Our city is currently viewed as a cost effective location for many individuals reliant on an income that does not increase year on year by inflation, or any other cost index. Any legislative or other changes that increase the cost of living in the city put at risk the desirability of the city region as a student destination. As such this would effectively impact the economy of the city negatively. We would therefore urge the Council to reject this resolution.
LICENCING If you haven't got your license you need to apply immediately. The Selective Licensing introduced last April is mandatory for all rented dwellings in the city. We are eighteen months into the scheme and if you have not complied with this legal requirement you will be running a high risk of being prosecuted. The LSH registration requirements require all properties to have at least started the application process at the time of registering. We have seen evidence that the licensing team are taking a more robust approach with landlords when dealing with reoccurring incidents of anti-social behaviour in rented dwellings.
MARKET OVERVIEW Figures obtained from the LSH database give an overview of the registered and advertised properties during a registration cycle. The accuracy of the figures is dependent upon our registered landlords/agents maintaining property records in their online accounts. Your co-operation is crucial to enable us to deliver a more exact picture of the sector.
WHERE STUDENTS LIVE
This information captures the postcodes of the most popular student dwellings advertised through LSH.
NUMBER OF BEDSPACES ADVERTISED THROUGH LSH OCTOBER 2016
It should be noted the remaining figure is not a true accurate reflection of current availability as landlord/agents have not maintained correct availability of adverts running.
NUMBER OF BEDSPACES ADVERTISED AND REMAINING 2015/16
The graph shows the total number of bedspaces advertised in both student sectors. It is fair to say that the remaining figures could be significantly lower with the correct information updated by landlords/providers. Realistically we could possibly take a further 30% off the remaining figures which would probably give a more accurate picture of availability.
NUMBER OF BEDSPACES TAKEN BY POSTCODE
Advertised
bedspaces
6335
2842
52
294
408
99
11555
263
3553
706
We can see what percentage of properties have been taken by postcode. This graph gives an indication of how specific student areas are performing in the sector.
AVERAGE PRICE - CURRENTLY ADVERTISED PROPERTIES, INCLUDING BILLS
Postcode /Area L1 - City Centre L13 - Old Swan L15 - Picton L15 - Smithdown/Wavertree L16 - Childwall L17 - Aigburth L17 - Se on Park L18 - Mossley Hill/Allerton L3 - City Centre L6 - Fairfield L6 - Kensington L6 - Tuebrook L7 - Edge Hill L7 - Fairfield L7 - Kensington L8 - Toxteth
£ per person weekly £123.66 £85.00 £74.75 £81.09 £80.00 £80.00 £95.00 £81.00 £123.10 £77.25 £81.67 £80.00 £116.44 £70.00 £79.06 £100.71
£ per person monthly £529.05 £368.33 £323.83 £352.24 £346.67 £346.49 £411.67 £350.62 £531.60 £334.75 £352.21 £346.67 £504.58 £303.00 £341.55 £436.41
AVERAGE PRICE - CURRENTLY ADVERTISED PROPERTIES, EXCLUDING BILLS
Area L1 - City Centre L15 - Smithdown/Wavertree L17 - Aigburth L3 - City Centre L4 - Everton L7 - Edge Hill L7 - Kensington
£ per person weekly £108.4 £69.17 £90 £117.5 £60 £75.63 £90
£ per person monthly £469.93 £299.67 £390 £509 £299 £327.7 £390