Increasing numbers of wealthy overseas students seeking upmarket rental property in London

Specialist West End estate agency, LDG, has noticed a trend for overseas students coming to study in London with increasingly high accommodation budgets. This, coupled with the lack of good quality rental properties within areas such as Bloomsbury, has lead to an increase in rental prices.
 
‘We are seeing foreign students with budgets of up to £1,000 per week. However, they are not looking for what we’d class as a typical student pad. They usually want very high spec, centrally located, two bedroom flats or apartments,’ said Javier Carrillo, LDG’s lettings manager.
 
‘For most students, location is the key factor in choosing an apartment as they do not want to walk for more than five minutes to get to their university and, ideally, would like to see it from their window,’ he explained.
 
The company has found that Bloomsbury is a very popular location because it has good access to a number of universities including UCL and The London School of Economics. Security is probably the second most important element. Most of LDG’s student clients are young and living alone so their parents are very concerned about safety and so a porter and CCTV are a big advantage.
 
‘Most students renting luxury properties tend to be from Asia, the Middle East or Europe, Russia in particular. These groups usually have the biggest budgets and will very often pay by cash. We’re seeing a low number of UK students looking within the West End, probably because they have been priced out of the market,’ added Carrillo.
 
Unless a foreign student has a relative living in the UK, who can co-sign their tenancy agreement, the student must pay a minimum of six month’s rent up-front. Javier says that this is the case with around 90% of foreign student tenants. He points out that six month’s rent on a £1,000 per week flat comes to almost £25,000 and wealthy scholars are happy to pay this.
 
‘Some students, usually in their first year or those who had previously stayed in halls of residence, want to arrange their accommodation early and then have a holiday, so they will begin renting a flat in June or July but not actually move in until September, thus the rent is being paid on the property three or four months in advance, with nobody actually occupying it,’ explained Carrillo.
 
For LDG, the student rental market is already very active in London, with June being one of the busiest times, but a second wave of viewings is expected to commence in early August.
 
Rental properties which serve all of London’s top universities including UCL, the London School of Economics, the University of Westminster and Regent’s College are the most sought after