Updating post from Reddit.
I rent to international students in London, and am finding this year to be particularly difficult for 3 bed HMO flats in south Camden/Bloomsbury border. Really weird. 2 bed flats still getting lots of enquiries but something about a 3 bed HMO is hard to let. What is going on in the market? Usually get lots of enquiries with 6mo advance rent offers.
Note for the uneducated: a 3 bed HMO is just the same as a 2 bed flat. The contract is identical, an AST. The only difference is there's an extra person in the flat.
Maybe it is because there are a lot of couples, or it is easier to seek accomodation with a single friend, and such people don't want to share with a third person who is a stranger ?
In previous years it wasn't an issue.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgwwgl2nleo
Market dynamics have changed. You'll probably need to lower the rent.
but the 2 bed flat is unaffected.
A 3 bed hmo is materially different to a 2 bed flat
In previous years they've both been easy to rent.
Yes and the market is now different, with far fewer international students, who, unsurprisingly, are prioritising properties where they control who lives there, not someone else.
I don't think you understand how a 3 bed HMO works. I sign a single AST contract with three tenants.
OK
Either way, 3 beds are proving less attractive than 2 beds, by your own evidence. I have given you evidence that there are far far fewer international students, your target audience. For whatever reason, they are not interested in your 3 bed.
Fortunately a solution is immediately available, which is to lower the rent.
Yes, but if there are fewer students coming, it is likely that they don't want to share with a stranger / a third wheel. In the past, due to demand, they have had to. But now because demand has dropped, they don't need to.
Have you considered letting the 3 beds as a family home rather than as a HMO ?
I rent to students only, specifically Chinese students. They are the most obedient tenants. I don't rent to Brits as they are politicised against private property and resent the setup.
I.e. you are knowingly breaking discrimination laws in order to rent to people who are less likely to know their legal rights here (so that you can break more laws?)
Wow, yet another moron running an illegal venture on this sub
One of the reasons I stopped being a landlord was that when I talked to other landlords, they were very often dodgy as fuck