NINE out of 10 landlords are planning to increase the amount of rent they charge students over the coming 12 months, research showed today.

Around 89% of student landlords said they would be raising the amount they charged over the coming year, while 37% said they planned to increase the number of properties they rented out, according to Endsleigh Insurance.

Four out of 10 landlords said they had experienced problems with students not paying their rent during the past year, while 32% said their tenants had damaged their property.

Around 18% of landlords also said their property had been broken into while it was occupied by students, and 12% had suffered similar problems while it was empty.

In a bid to combat security problems just under two-thirds of landlords had fitted window locks, while nearly a third had fitted a burglar alarm.

Healthy

Tim Larden, marketing operations manager at Endsleigh, said: "The market for student accommodation is clearly still a healthy one, with increases expected in both the number of properties on the market and in yields for landlords over the next 12 months.

"The student market is an important and lucrative one for a number of landlords across the UK and it is vital that they are seen to respond to their tenants' requirements, particularly when it comes to important issues such as security."

Students in the South West are most likely to be facing rent increases, with 100% of the landlords questioned in the region saying they planned to put up rents over the next year, something only 75% of landlords in Wales planned to do.

Half of landlords in Wales and the North East plan to increase the number of properties they rent out going forward, compared with just 29% in the North West.

* Website Accommodation For Students questioned 5,000 student landlords during June.