Frequently Asked Questions for Landlords

We haven’t seen any significant levels of willful damage to a student property in Lancaster. Typically we just see the wear and tear you’d expect from a group of young adults, which is heavier than it might be at your own home but this is allowed for in the rent that students pay.

We provide our student tenants with a guide on how we expect them to leave their property several times throughout our contact with them. We expect that they have followed it, basically emptying their house and having a good go at cleaning it, but landlords of student accommodation should expect to have the houses cleaned to a professional standard before new tenants move in.

It’s in our student tenancy agreements that tenants can’t put things up on the wall with anything that leaves a mark but we’d advise you to provide notice boards in bedrooms to give them somewhere to put things up on. There are lots of other simple, cheap ways to reduce maintenance on student properties that we can help you with.

This can vary from year to year. To cover the regular maintenance of a student property, like carpet cleaning, replacing bits of furniture and equipment, as well as medium to long term maintenance, like new kitchens and bathrooms, we would recommend putting something like 10% of the total rent aside each year.

Yes, students now expect their rent to include; gas, electricity, water, TV licence and fibre optic internet. Our tenancy agreements clearly lay out how much energy tenants are allowed to use as part of their rent whilst living in their student house, which is something we monitor throughout the year.

As much as the Renters Rights Act 2025 (RRA) has changed letting all property in England there are a couple of the changes that are more significant to the student lettings market:

• Loss of fixed term tenancies
  •  Tenancies for students in residential properties will all be run on the new Assured Periodic Tenancy from 1st May 2026.
  • Fixed terms will be prohibited from that date, meaning all tenants can give two full rent period notice at any point to end their tenancy.
• Introduction of 'Ground 4A'
  • This is a new possession ground within Section 8 of the Housing Act which is specifically for 'student tenants' living in Houses in Multiple Occupancy (HMOs), which for this purpose, in most circumstances, are properties with three or student tenants.
  • If the rules around this ground are met it then allows landlords to end their tenancies annually each summer, to reflect the cycle created by an academic year
• Changes to rent payments
  • For tenancies entered into after 1st May 2026 tenants will have the rights to pay their rent on a monthly schedule, not the termly payments that are traditional within the Lancaster student HMO market.
  • Student tenants will however have the option to ask for a payment schedule that best suits their needs, so may still elect to pay rent termly.

Gas safety certificates are needed annually, and it’s recommended that Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) and a fire detection test and service are carried out on an annual basis as well and an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) needs to be carried out every five years.

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is needed every 10 years and properties need a Fire Risk Assessment, which provides a fire plan for the tenants, and a Legionnaires Risk Assessment, these being reviewed regularly or when a change is made to a property.

LU Homes is an accreditation scheme run by Lancaster University on behalf of them and the University of Cumbria,.

The LU Homes website is the only place students can find the full range of university approved accommodation, the scheme being heavily promoted on campus, off campus and in the digital space to Lancaster's students and, as recommended agents, Escape Campus can display the LU Homes logo, to promote the quality of your student property, and go to their University Housing Fair events on both Lancaster University and the University of Cumbria campuses.

These are events held on Lancaster University and the University of Cumbria campuses and promoted to the students as a place to come and speak to LU Homes members about accredited off campus student accommodation. The event in the Great Hall each November attracts in excess of 1000 of Lancaster's students.

Going directly to LU Homes means there is a minimum fee of £220 + VAT or £25 + VAT per student room, which ever is greater. Through Escape Campus, regardless of the number of rooms you have, you get the room rate.

LU Homes concentrate on the standard of the student accommodation management and then the quality and safety of a student property. The standards can be found here. In terms of property standards they broadly follow the standards set by Lancaster City Council for licenced Houses in Multiple Occupancy.