Updating post from Reddit.
We have a 6 bedroom student-only HMO in Brighton. Each year around February or March, the house has been snapped up by students for the next school year. The house is very well maintained and in a quiet but convenient residential neighbourhood.
We've just switched estate agents because the house has not been rented yet, and they said they work with a woman that organises Chinese students into accommodation. She apparently speaks Chinese and English well and would act as a liaison if there were any issues. We self-manage and will want to speak to this woman directly before moving forward.
We've rented to international students before, but they were part of a mixed group and all spoke fluent English. For them, we would ask for the rent upfront (maybe not an option after the Renters Reform Bill gets passed).
Does anyone have experience renting to Chinese students, especially via a go-between? Anything we should be aware of?
I used to work in rich private student accommodation in a management position, that lent almost exclusively UAE and Chinese.
Like any student tenancy it is a mixed bag, some were lovely, some gave us expensive Christmas presents, some didn't clean the entire time they were there, some let everything rot and never threw anything away.
Accepting the rent up front is quite common for international students but if they're going back home it's going to be difficult chasing them for damage. In my experience they're not confident English speakers in first year and foundation year and they buy a crazy amount of temu.
Smoking inside was an issue for some, leaving behind large amounts of rubbish was an issue, alot of them had items shipped over so cardboard and whatnot was an issue.
Not loud, didn't tend to break anything or have parties. Luna new year might be the only time you have a real noise complaint.
Thank you very much for your insight - the smoking thing might be a deal breaker. It's so difficult to get rid of the smell without completely repainting and replacing carpet. As far as cleanliness, we've pretty much seen it all with British kids!
Yes it was almost exclusively with male students
But in a 250 bed accommodation it was only really like 10 or so we had that issue with
Hotels and car dealerships use inexpensive ozone generators to deal with this exact issue. Can confirm it works with cooking smells too.
That wouldn't deal with smells left by residues of months of smoking though, you'd have to run that contemporary with the smoking. Also ozone is harmful to health in high concentrations.
This is very accurate
They will have come from families with live-in housemaids. In your shoes I would organise a housecleaner for 2x3 hrs weekly and place that into the total rent (not as a separate charge) and make it a non-smoking house with regular inspections and a list of Must Do Weekly tasks. Specify exactly what the cleaner will and will not do.
I will echo this. I haven’t personally let to Chinese students but have lived with them as a student when I was renting. They do not clean anything because they’re used to someone doing it for them. If you don’t have a cleaner coming in then you will have a rude awakening of layers of dirt random rotting food hidden in nooks and crannies. They just don’t see a problem because it’s not their job and never had to do it previously.
Managed a few houses let to Chinese students. The one thing I would say that some of them are very (and I mean very) laid back when it comes to cleaning. If you do decide to rent to them, I would suggest keeping on top with regular inspections. Otherwise no issues
I used to let to Chinese students both as an agent and as a LL. I stopped as an agent because a Chinese guy opened an agent and fair enough they all go to him now and we have never really done "student" housing.
As a LL in general they were lovely and great tenants VERY respectful.
There are perhaps a few "cultural" things to maybe bare in mind. I dont say this in derogatory way but they can be messy, think lots of stuff left behind, one guy in a one bed flat left like 4 woks and enough crockery for about 46 people and like 50 fake Disney soft toys in a 30m studio. Another called out plumber as the bath would not empty, plug was full of hair, then again when I cleaned after she moved out it was the same.
Saying that I would not hesitate to rent to them again. I have never been prissy about having to clean/ tidy after a tenant so long as there is no real damage its no problem.
Terrible ruin your property. What a mess i have had. Within 8 months, one cook hoodie was broken as too greasy, and water tap for sink as well. And ask me to pay the replacement. Only refurbished 3 years ago.
To be fair, any students in general often leave the kitchen in a mess like that or worse. I've seen a lot worse sadly. Mushrooms and mould growing off old food and stuff plastered on the walls.
Burnt countertops and appliances broken. Hoover being used for a year without changing the bag kinda stuff. Someone trying to boil an egg in the kettle (yes, really...)
Surprised you're letting them use gas. I'd be worried they'd burn the place down or cause an explosion somehow and turn it into a smouldering pile of rubble lol
Definitely it’s mound see the work top . Luckily they finish their tenancy at the end of month! Just a nightmare, I wish I should take double or triple monthly rent as deposit .
you're actually nuts, why is it WOOD around the sink which will CONTSANTLY be wet lmao. I bet most of that will wipe off if you clean it for 5 minutes...
What is a "cook hoodie" that was broken by too much grease? How was a tap broken by grease?
You've shown a picture of a hob that has recently stir fried something and not yet been cleaned, but they've clearly made many meals by now and cleared the debris from all but the most recent.
thats litterally normal cooking that needs cleaning what?! Like this takes 2 hours maximum to remedy
With how the market is in Brighton this year, I would say if you have a group of 6 at this point of the year go for it regardless or you'll have to go individuals or risk really having a vacant property.
Would say Chinese tenants are like any other, some keep it clean, some won't. If they're final years though be prepared for them to leave a lot of shit when they leave
All students are a mixed bag. Some are decent, some are bad, i will say the chance of partying will be low but the chances of them cooking food from scratch and experimenting with kitchen appliances will be high, so expect high kitchen wear and tear.
If you lay ground rules first, no smoking indoors, clean up everything at the end of tenancy, they generally will listen.
We had Chinese students apply to our flat. I asked them where they were going to have to get to for their studies. They said somewhere north. We are in London. I declined and told them they would be commuting at least 2/3 hours a day.
Do what you feel is best for you. good luck.
Great bunch of lads
They might become spies and threats to national security….
Surely if they're here on a study visa that means they'd be capable of speaking a satisfactory amount of English
Haha, you would think so, but no. Most of them graduate without learning English.
That's a good point
This is absolutely not true. I’m a student at a good university and none of the Chinese students I’ve met can speak English beyond maybe Year 4 level. This sounds exaggerated but I promise it’s true. I believe that most of these Chinese families are rich, and pay for people to take their children’s language tests for them. Same issue with internationals as a whole, there’s a reason many allegedly uni capable international students can’t pass interviews at Tesco and Sainsbury’s - they have the work ethic but they just can’t speak English properly
This is my experience also. There is routine cheating on the IELTS test that universities require. They arrive at lectures and just purely use translation apps. For project work, the universities miraculously always make sure there is one native English speaker in each group, who ends up having to do the bulk of the work
To be fair: the kinds of conversations you need to be capable of while working in a supermarket are very different from the kinds you need to be able to study something academic, especially something that comes with its own technical language or jargon.
What is this, Germany in the 1930s?
