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Jakuta Ltd releases University of Kent survey results
The report from the extensive survey Jakuta Ltd undertook on behalf of the University of Kent earlier this year has been released.
The report gives an extensive insight into a wide range of information upon which there was previously no data. Amongst other things, major issues that were looked at were student's awareness of tenancy deposit and accreditation schemes, how students finance their rent, how students interact with their house mates and local resident neighbours, how the rise in student fees may affect their decision to live in the private rental market and what levels of satisfaction were for an array of criteria.
Interesting insights show that a small, but certainly visible number of students are now using social media to find prospective properties, with 5% stating they found their most recent house on Facebook. The impact that social media is having upon businesses and the necessity for them to utilise these correctly is certainly apparent.
One of the other major issues that the report throws up is that the accreditation scheme currently has an extremely low profile amongst students. The accreditation system is meant to be a mark of quality and reputability from landlords that go through the process of acquiring it, however with over 65% of students being unaware of what the scheme is or means, its value is seriously diminished by this. Another issue that the accreditation scheme has to deal with is that nearly half of all students who were aware of it, did not cite it as an important reason in their decision to rent a property. The accreditation scheme in Canterbury is currently going through a period of transition which hopefully will see these issues addressed.
Other major areas of interest are looking at how students go about financing their rent. It's always been know that students can have a hard time paying their rent but the figure of 30% that have fallen into financial difficulty whilst paying it, certainly indicates that greater advice and guidance is needed in these areas, be it from parents, landlords or the universities.
The purpose of the survey was to fully examine the experience of a student tenant as a whole and understand how a range of factors can affect a student living in the private rental sector. The information uncovered can be used as a benchmark to help progress and improve standards of welfare and experience in further years.
The report can be accessed here.