I am a private landlord with a handful of very upmarket homes for students in the best of locations; close to Loughborough University and Loughborough town centre.
Private landlord means I let my houses directly, rather than through a letting agent, so you get to deal with me, the person that owns the house.
I'd like to think of myself as one of a new generation of professional landlords. I care passionately about the standard of accommodation and level of service I provide. And of course, as the owner of the house, who could be more interested in making sure his tenants are happy and their house in A1 condition?
My story is a simple one. I took a gap year from work in year 2000 and spent 12 hard months studying for a Masters degree in IT at Loughborough. Having not sat an exam for over 20 years, surprisingly enough, I came through with flying colours.
But apart from improving my knowledge of IT and revisiting my long-lost student days, during that gap year it became very apparent to me that student landlords and letting agents generally had a bad reputation. My fellow students were always complaining about how dreadful their accommodation was and how badly they were treated. The most often used phrase was "they couldn't give a damn".
For that year I was also a tenant, so I've got first hand experience of what it's like to be on the receiving end. I couldn't find a good student house close-by and I ended up having to rent a really great house that had been marketed as a professional let, not for students.
And that's what gave me the idea for premier student houses... students are really just professionals-in-waiting, so why should their housing requirements be any different? Why should students be happy with second rate? With this simple concept I started buying houses in the very best locations and I worked hard to make them the very best houses in the street.
The standard of renovation I achieve and quality of furniture and fittings in my houses is no less than I would want for myself. I know all my tenants individually by name and my dealings with each of them is much the same as I would hope to be dealt with myself.
Premier houses for professional students. It's not that complicated; live as you would want to live, do as you would be done by.
Look out for my 'For Let' boards.
