Student accommodation in York

As we are about to be swamped with students, bless ’em, we thought that this week we would take a look at what’s happening on the city’s student accommodation front.

There have been some gloomy stories recently about a potential shortfall in student accommodation in York – but according to at least one expert there is good news for those coming to study in the city.

Neil McTurk, is chairman of York Residential Landlords Association, which represents some 400 private sector landlords in the city, and also owner of specialist letting agency Sinclair Properties.

And Mr McTurk says that far from being a shortage there is a slight over-supply – in the private sector at least.

He explains: “While there might be a shortfall predicted for the universities this only applies, really, to first-year students using the halls of residence. When it comes to second-and third-year students, 90 per cent of them want to move out and live in the private sector and in the community.

“And there is no shortage for students in the private sector – there is in fact a slight over-supply.”

This, he adds, is good news for the young folk. “It means that standards have improved, that landlords have to provide good-quality homes with good décor and furnishing – the days of shoving students into substandard accommodation have long gone in York.

“It also means that rents are kept at a realistic level and there is a good deal of choice among property on offer.”

Five years ago, for instance, he added, the student market was mainly centred on terraced houses. Today the trend is more and more to also use semi-detached and detached houses.

So, there you have it… no crisis just yet.

To have a look at the kind of properties on the books of Mr McTurk’s Sinclair Properties we checked out the firm’s website at www.sinclair-properties.com and did indeed find a good spread of different properties – and judging by the internal pictures very nicely presented, too.

And, in the meantime, here is a snapshot of what else is available on the student letting market.

Starting with (to prove Mr McTurk’s point) a three-bedroomed semi-detached in Millfield Lane, Hull Road. On offer here is a dining room, lounge, fully fitted kitchen with electric hob and oven, washing machine, pantry with fridge/freezer, two double bedrooms, a single bedroom and family bathroom. There are gardens to the front and rear, off-street parking and gas central heating. The rental is £795pcm. Apply to Linley and Simpson.

Quantum, meanwhile, can offer a large terraced house in the “Bohemian” Bishopthorpe Road area, close to the Millennium bridge and with good access to the university and the city centre.

The Scarcroft Road house has five bedrooms spread across three floors, a communal lounge and two bathrooms. Ideal for student sharers, then. The rental is £65 per person per week. The same agent has a four-bed house in Walpole Street with good bedroom sizes, a communal lounge and modern fitted kitchen. It’s available at £860pcm.

Letters Ltd, meanwhile have a newly decorated furnished four bedroom semi-detached house on Hull Road, within walking distance of the university and ideal for sharers and students.

Here you will find a large reception room a newly extended and fitted kitchen with electric oven and hob, fridge and washing machine. There is also a newly fitted ground floor shower room and ground-floor double bedroom.

There are two double bedrooms and a three-quarter bedroom upstairs along with a bathroom with shower. Off-street parking to front. Gravelled area and shed to rear. The rental is £950 pcm.

And as our final example of what is around at the moment, Letters of Distinction have a spacious six-bedroom mid-terraced house in Claremont Terrace, an ideal spot within a short walking distance of St Johns College. The rental here is £1,500 per month, based on six tenants sharing at £250 per month each.