With the buy to let scheme having been put in place since the 1980s, landlords all over the country have been able to benefit from buying previously council-owned properties cheaply and then using them as vital cash cows for their own means. It is plainly evident that numerous student properties in the Hyde Park area of Leeds do not deserve the extortionate amounts of rent that they receive. For example, a landlord owning a non-detached terraced property along the vital Hyde Park Road (which is often sought for students due to its proximity to the university buildings) charges up to £105 a week to tenants. Other areas that are even closer to the university area, such as Hyde Park Terrace, charge even greater amounts to tenants.
This is often an amount too great for students to bear, many of whom seek cheaper property letting rates in the outer areas of Leeds, such as Burley or Headingley. However, even there it is clear that rent rates are high and put a lot of young people under a lot of pressure. The rates of accommodation in places such as Leeds are extremely high and put off many from applying there. Clearly, the increase in tuition fees are not the only reason for putting off large amounts of young people from continuing their education and it is sad to see that not enough is being done to support these students in tougher circumstances.
Indeed, the scrapping of maintenance grants and converting these to loans means that students from poorer backgrounds to others are effectively being punished for being poor. And as for renting a property that is closer to the university campus, forget about it. The situation is getting worse for students all around the country and it is clear that the extortionate rates of rent have a great deal to do with this and the property and development industries will soon need to find an alternative to these circumstances if they are to progress in the future.
