A survey of more than 1,000 landlords by the National Landlords Association revealed students were the least likely of all tenants to miss a rental payment.

Landlords who rented to students also experienced the lowest incidence of voids.

In addition, student properties and Houses of Multiple Occupation offered a rental yield of 6.7% and 7% respectively, compared to a 6.1% average for the UK overall.

The Buy to Let Business managing director Ying Tan said: “If a landlord wants a property that has high yields and gives better returns, students and HMOs will always tick the boxes. However, there is more legislation involved.”

He called on medium-sized lenders to follow the lead of major buy-to-let lenders such as BM Solutions and make it easier for landlords to let to students:

“If the major lenders want to do it and the niche lenders do it, the group in between should do it as well.”

NLA chairman Carolyn Uphill said the survey results were encouraging: “However, it’s important to highlight that letting property to students – indeed, letting to any tenant group – is not an easy win.”