Renting accommodation tops the list of university woes for the 61% of students who are struggling to find a property, according to research by SPCE.

The proptech firm revealed that 70% of UK landlords wouldn’t let their property to a student because they don’t trust them and did not want to risk their property being damaged.

Not good enough

Two thirds of current university students cite poor communication from landlords and estate agents as a major issue, while seven in 10 say rental accommodation for students is often in a poor, run-down condition.

When asked if they would want a system that provided ratings to tenants and landlords based on previous tenancies – 77% of students and 84% of landlords agreed they would.

Student lettings app SPCE has launched to mend this broken student-landlord relationship, said CEO Leon Ifayemi: “Today’s research provides valuable insight into a key section of the property market. Evidently, students and landlords are dissatisfied by the current state of student lettings, underpinned by a lack of trust and communication between both sides.

“It’s interesting to see many landlords refusing to let their properties to students, perceiving them as bad tenants. This couldn’t be further from the truth – with parents acting as guarantors, there’s a very low risk of students not being able to pay rent on time or provide compensation for damages. What’s more, students are also not deserving of lazy stereotypes of them as reckless party animals; they are far more conscientious than that.”

More transparency

The student lettings app makes it quick and easy for university-goers to find a room or entire property to rent, while also improving transparency and communication between a student renter and their landlord.

SPCE arrives on the market with 50,000 rooms available for rent and 15,000 students pre-registering to download the app. Moreover, the proptech firm already has agreements with six major UK universities and has a presence in the country’s leading higher education regions, including London, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Oxford and Cambridge.