House Hunting 2011 - Latest Developments to November

Market Activity

Although the letting season is coming to an end the Unipol web site is still active with an average of 100 searches taking place each day, and students are still seeking house hunting advice at the Bureau.

Indicators of student use of Unipol's services continue to show healthy usage (to 10th November 2011):

• detailed searches have increased from 69,868 to 71,701
• hits this year are at 2.8 million
• page impressions this year are at 461,321
• over 3,000 printed property lists have been requested by students looking for accommodation compared with 1,250 in the whole of 2010
• the number of individual users per month has seen a healthy increase from 2,352 in 2010 to 2,598 in 2011.

Unipol is working closely with the accommodation office at the University of Bradford and opened for extended periods during September to support students arriving in Bradford.

The main development over this summer has been the completion of The Green for University of Bradford students which has added 1,000 bed spaces to the market. This has put considerable lettings pressure on both the purpose built and off-street student market.

Lettings

February to July - The house hunting season began on Monday 7th February 2011 with an initial 1,288 bed spaces were available to view. 87% of bed spaces displayed fell within the Code.

Few students began their house hunting in February but the ones who did seemed to have a good idea on where they wanted to live and had already formed in to groups.

Lettings were sluggish and by August 2011 only 66% of bed spaces displayed had been let compared with 92% in 2010. Bradford continues to see a ‘slow burn’ scenario with many students in Bradford leaving their house hunting until later in the season, probably to avoid paying for accommodation over the summer period.

September - There was a small surge in demand as returning students arrived back in Bradford and house hunted in mid September. The new student village, ‘The Green’, has also proved popular with returning students.

Intake and accommodation requirements at the University of Bradford is likely to be similar to 2010. At Bradford College it is likely that there will be fewer international students (although students often continue to arrive late into the year so September indications can be misleading). The College took more degree level students at clearing than last year. Overall demand from the College for residential accommodation is also likely to be similar to 2010.

Over the last few months the majority of students seen on a face to face basis have been international students with many needing considerable support and guidance. Unipol is working closely with the accommodation office at the University of Bradford and opened for extended periods to support students arriving in Bradford in September.

Short term Lets

There are a significant number of students who need short term lets over the summer and some students also need to secure accommodation from September to December to attend graduation ceremonies after completing their degree. Unipol now has a special needs section on the website which helps direct students needing short term accommodation and owners can indicate on their property details when they are prepared to let on a short term basis.

All owners with current vacancies will be contacted during September 2011 to see if they are prepared to consider short term lets.

Rent Levels

The average rent level for off street properties has remained consistent across the year and is currently £45.96 compared with £47.01 in 2010.

Larger developments have very variable rents. Some large developments have substantially discounted rents to directly compete with the off-street market with the lowest rents in complexes at £49.50 (with inclusive utilities) a week compared with £54.00 in off street properties. Others have offered incentives such as a small overall discount to students who have signed up within a specified timeframe.

General Observations

A number of initiatives have been undertaken in 2011 to improve information, help and enhance communication:

• posters introducing the bureau’s location and detailing the Unipol service have been circulated around the University and departments have displayed these in high circulation areas.
• the tabloid newspapers are now being displayed in attractive display stands that are available in various public areas across the university and college including the Hub, the Management School and the library. All Code owners were offered a free advert in the summer edition of the tabloid
• all properties that meet the Code are being detailed by size in property list handouts. This is in addition to being shown on the Unipol website. These have proved extremely popular and are replenished daily - over 2,800 have been distributed so far in 2011, compared with 1,250 in the whole of 2010
• through the University of Bradford Accommodation Office, Unipol emailed all students requiring accommodation with information on house hunting and the start date as part of an improved house hunting strategy
• Unipol have attended many of the events held by the University and have held stalls in the Atrium and Student Central as a way of raising awareness of housing options to students.

SUMMARY KEY POINTS

• The market continues to be in an increasing surplus with additional supply and little additional demand.
• The Green has seen more direct allocations made through the University of Bradford and the development is popular and as a consequence other letting activity has fallen by around 50% by the end of August compared to 2010.
• Larger off-street properties seem to be bearing the brunt of this trend and it is suspected that a number of houses have left the market because of difficult lettings. Those houses that have remained are smaller properties. There is a surplus throughout the market and there are currently  395 unlet bed spaces in larger developments and 259 unlet rooms in off-street properties on Unipol's website.
• Competition between large development suppliers is driving rents downwards with many discounts and offers. For the 2012-2013 house hunting season Unipol plans to offer a new price comparator section on its site so that students can see where the best deals are. Use of the Unipol site by larger developments is expected to increase.
• The increasing need for short term lets over the summer and from September to December is now being catered for within the private sector from suppliers willing to let to this short term market.