23% of the apartments rented by students belong to retirees
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Finding a landlord during the months that a university course lasts allows them to receive an important extra income
A large percentage of the owners of rental apartments for university students are people over 60 years of age, specifically 23%. A very specific profile
mostly menwho are approaching or who are already of retirement age and who require an extra income to reinforce the collection of the pension.
This is indicated by a report from the LIVE4LIFE platform specialized in renting flats and rooms for young people, which reflects how this sector of society
is one of the great protagonists of the real estate market. “It is a very specific profile of a landlord, who has another main residence and who does not want to be taking care of a flat when he can make a profit from it,” says Alberto Añaños, CEO of the company.
Student apartments represent an important part when it comes to talking about rent. Especially in areas with a great educational focus such as Madrid, where it is estimated that more than 130,000 young people come from outside the region, either from other parts of Spain or even from other countries. A
high demand which, as the LIVE4LIFE study indicates, is faced with the release of these flats for people over 60 years of age.
The owners of this age range represent 23% of the tenants, a significant figure that considerably exceeds the owners between 30 and 39 years old, who represent 14%, and those between 50 and 59 years old, whose percentage increases slightly to 15% of the total.
In addition, the data obtained by the Valencian company confirm that the vast majority of owners within this calculation are men. Specifically, LIVE4LIFE observes that 68.4% of owners over 60 years of age who make their flats available to young people
belongs to the male gender compared to the scarce 31.6% that is included in the female.
The reasons to rent
The decision to rent a flat is not easy for owners. Many of them have
certain insecurity about how they are going to take care of your flat and if the possible damages caused are accompanied by more losses than gains. However, the duration of these rental contracts and the guaranteed income are two incentives to become landlords.
In addition, platforms such as LIVE4LIFE adapt to this insecurity by offering comprehensive home management plans that cover all types of incidents and ensure collections by removing any work from the owner.
"The main fear that owners usually transmit is how they will leave their apartment, if there will be damage and if it will cause them discomfort with the rest of the neighbors," says Añaños. "Those negative scenarios don't always happen, but the percentage of incidents is quite low," he explains.
On the contrary, the incentives that lead them to jump into the market are evident: a
medium-long stay contract and guaranteed income. "Student apartments are usually based on contracts for a few months, specifically the duration of the university course or the training that the student is going to enjoy," explains the CEO of LIVE4LIFE.
Once the course is over, the owner has the option of renewing that contract if he has not had conflicts with the landlords or, on the contrary, looking for new tenants with a new price and other conditions.
«In this type of owners, what is most sought is to disengage from their home. Let it not be a problem. That they manage the rent, that they ensure the quotas and that they take care of the relations with the tenants, ”specifies Añaños. In this way, the percentage of people over 60 continues to grow, reaching 23%.
