6 Insider Tips for a Successful Student Accommodation Enquiry

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If you’re studying in a city where competition for student accommodation is especially fierce, there’s a good chance you’ve come across this scenario: you’ve found a property you love on UniHomes, you’ve sent your enquiry…but the letting agent’s moved forward with another group of tenants.

As part of our goal to make student living stress-free, we’ve teamed up with some of our letting agent partners from across the UK to produce this guide to maximising your chances of making sure your student housing enquiry is successful so house-hunting is smooth sailing.

Here are our top tips for boosting your odds of letting agents noticing your enquiry over the others in their inbox!

1. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail

It can be tempting to rush into trying to secure student accommodation for next year - FOMO can hit if your friends have already sorted their housing. But before starting your search, you need to make sure everything’s in place so that you’re ready to sign immediately when you do find a great property.

Beth Roberts, Lettings Manager at Harringtons Lettings in Brighton, tells us that several of the most common mistakes made by student tenants come down to not being organised.

The first is not having your group of housemates fully confirmed - e.g. viewing a 4-bed house when only three of your group are definites. If you’re still searching for a fourth housemate, you’re going to fall behind other groups in the pecking order who are all ready to sign right now.

You’ll also each need a guarantor ready - if not, the agent simply won’t be able to proceed with your enquiry later in the signing process.

“Before attending a viewing, ensure everyone has suitable guarantor to meet the requirements of the agency you’re viewing through,” Beth explains. “For example, some agencies require a homeowner guarantor, some go off of their earnings, some are happy to accept a company guarantor.”

Want more info about how guarantors work for student accommodation in the UK? We’ve got you covered.

Likewise, make sure everyone in your group has their deposit money ready - as with the guarantor, you don’t want to trip up at the final hurdle when you’re about to sign if one of you can’t pay their share.

And lastly, check you’ve all got everyone’s basic details - full names, contact info, etc - handy before you attend a viewing. “Most agencies will ask you to complete an application form - having these details prior will enable you to move quickly,” Beth adds.

2. Answer the phone!

We know, we know, who do we think you are - boomers? But as much as most Gen Zs and Gen Alphas hate answering the phone, there’s no getting away from the fact it’s still the most efficient way of communicating with letting agents.

And when there’s a lot of competition for a property, making sure the agent can contact you for a quick chat over the phone helps them clarify details immediately, improving your chances of landing your first-choice place.

When you enquire on a property through UniHomes, letting agents will typically get back to you within three days - so keep an eye out for any phone calls in that time which could be about your enquiry!

Charlie Baker is a Lettings Negotiator at Handles Property and matches students with housing in Leamington Spa and Warwick. "Our process for handling student enquiries is as follows: we always call the applicant first and attempt to book a viewing over the phone,” she says.

While Charlie says her agency will follow up with an email if they can’t get through on the phone, the fact is students who answer the call will be able to book a viewing quicker than those over email who might not see the notification for hours or days.

This works the other way around, too. If you’ve missed the letting agent’s call and want to arrange a viewing, students ringing up will probably get through to an agent quicker than those emailing. Once Handles Property have made contact with the student, Charlie adds, “the enquiry is removed from our active list, and it becomes the applicant’s responsibility to contact us to arrange a viewing, either via email or phone.”

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3. Be as specific as possible

It’s tempting to type out the bare minimum information in your enquiry to save time if you’re enquiring on multiple listings or in case you don’t like it when you view. However, being ultra-specific about what you’re after makes letting agents’ jobs far easier and helps you in the long run too.

“Tenants who know exactly what they’re looking for are much easier to match to properties!” says Beth at Harringtons. While it might feel like overkill to include your budget, the areas you’re interested in, and even specific house features like whether you want outdoor space or en-suites in the enquiry form, this really helps agents match you to properties that are similar to (or even better than) the one you enquired on.

In fact, seeming too casual about details can be a red flag. “Decide as a group what an achievable budget is that everyone can afford, and your ‘non-negotiables’,” Beth advises. “Double bedrooms? Garden? Location? Some tenants are ‘serial viewers’ who view everything even if it’s not what they want. Seeing the same name over and over shows us you’re not serious with your search.”

Lillie Burton, Head of Student Operations at Zest Sales & Lettings in Bath, agrees that showing interest in a specific property and knowing what you want goes a long way.

“When we get student enquiries, we look out for specific questions about the property and personalised messages about their situation, their group, and what they’re looking for so we can help with their property search,” she says.

4. Give as much availability as possible - and all turn up!

If you’re searching in a group, it’s not easy to find a time when you’re all free for a viewing - but try and provide multiple days/times to make it easier for the letting agent to fit you in. If you can only do one slot in the next week, give times for future weeks too or the agent will assume that that one slot is your only availability.

“It’s difficult to book someone in when they say they can only do between 1-1.15pm on a Wednesday, for example,” adds Beth.

Try and have everyone in your group attend the viewing; if not, you’ll probably have to schedule a second viewing for those who couldn’t make it, which will delay you being able to sign for the property. As Beth points out, “It’s a lot easier to make a decision when everyone has seen the house!”

5. Give contact info for as many of your group as possible

Every group has an “organiser” - the mum or dad of the group - who will be leading the house search. But even they won’t be reachable at all times, so providing letting agents with as many contact details as possible for your group will improve your chances of success.

If there’s a lot of competition for a property, you don’t want to miss out because you only gave one contact and the agent couldn’t get through to them because they were in an exam.

6. Turn on the charm

Last but not least, show your personality at the viewing! Letting agents are acting on the landlord’s behalf, so they want to make sure the property is going to be well looked after by the students living there. Making a great impression on the agent is a powerful factor in making you their preferred tenants.

“You have no idea how much of a difference being nice to your viewing guide makes!” says Beth. “If it comes down to a choice of two groups it really can boil down to who was the friendliest!”

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Next steps

So there you have it - now you’re equipped with all the insider tips on making sure your enquiry is the one that makes letting agents’ eyes light up so you get the student house of your dreams.

Want more help with student house-hunting? We’ve got guides to help with every step of the process:

• Types of student accommodation: your options explained
• How to choose who to live with at uni
• When to start looking for student accommodation
• 8 ways to prepare for a student house viewing

At UniHomes we’ve been making student living stress-free since 2015. We save you time and hassle by showcasing the best student accommodation from across the market in one platform - and with bills already included! Start the search for your next student home today.