Part one: A brief background to the topic of discussion and a look at the strained relationship between landlords/property managers and Students.
Above (DIT Student union reps at the launch of the USI Rentbook,Aug,2011)
At the end of every summer the rental market in Ireland experiences a boom in people searching for accommodation around the country. This is mostly down to the beginning of the college term with the rush usually lasting from the end of August until early October. Thousands of students will receive their leaving cert results and thousands more will return to major cities such as Galway and Dublin to flood the rental market and put a smile on many estate agency owner’s faces.
Why am I writing this blog?
However, renting for the first time when beginning college has proven to be quite a difficult and sometimes controversial issue in the Irish rental market. Having rented three different properties myself in Dublin over the last three years, I have experienced the different types of people you will be dealing with and the key issues you need to take care of and monitor during your tenancy as a student. During this series I will look to lay out an essential guide to finding, managing and leaving your accommodation hassle free.
The background? No Students Allowed 🙁
Unfortunately I am of the opinion that students have developed a poor reputation with landlords and agencies due to a small number who act poorly or overindulge in the benefits of having their own home, leaving the remaining students tainted with the same negative image. Students can often be seen as a high risk tenant for a landlord or agent to accept unfortunately, and this leaves the rest fighting it out for the scraps left on the property market.
On occasion the property in which they end up in often leaves the student paying above market prices for medium to low quality accommodation due to the image they have developed and the type of owner they may now have to deal with. From my experience I believe the following to be the major issues when it comes to students and their rented accommodation during the academic year :
- Rental payments, missed or late rents and clarity on payment
- Inventory and property condition before and after signing lease.
- Adhering to contracts and lease agreement terms.
- Poor communication between owner and renter.
- End of lease issues-deposit retention and obtaining a reference.
The aim of this blog series is to analyse and openly discuss these issues a student will face and guide them to maintaining a stress free tenancy. It is an area I will be blogging a lot about during the summer months as Rentview continue to research this market with the aim of introducing a free service to students that aids the renting process. Next up I’ll be talking about everything to do with the most important factor of moving out, paying the RENT. I will approach the topic from a neutral perspective between the tenant/landlord as i don’t want either getting annoyed with my opinions :). You can connect with me on twitter @cormac_nugent or follow @Rentview_, thanks for reading and don’t forgot to share this blog and comment below if you like.