Ind: Why students next door are bad for your wealth

Why students next door are bad for your wealth
By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

The Independent
Published: 27 January 2006

They are known for loud parties, long lie-ins and unhygienic kitchens.
But the residential reputation of students hit a new low with the
release of a survey which shows that having them as neighbours can
devalue a home by 10 per cent.

In a poll of homebuyers for propertyfinder.com, 63 per cent of people
said students were the worst neighbours, second only to squatters (90
per cent) in a roll-call of undesirables that included flat-sharers and
families with teenage children.

With the average home in Britain costing =A3171,632, the financial price
of living next to a modern-day version of television's The Young Ones
works out at more than =A317,000. Squatters living next door are
estimated to depress the value by 16 per cent, =A327,976.

Conventional residents can also wipe thousands of pounds off the value
of a property. Families with teenagers were the third most dreaded
neighbour because of slamming doors, arguments and drum kits. Next down
the list of undesirables came flatsharers, often young people with
active and - presumably noisy - social lives.

In the survey of 400 homeowners, some groups, such as childless
couples, pensioners and single people, were reckoned to inflate the
value of a neighbouring property. Childless couples added 4 per cent.

Students, according to propertyfinder.com, cause a whole host of
problems such as untidy exteriors, rat-attracting rubbish over-spills,
loud music and rowdiness after a night out.

In a study in 2002, Darren Smith of Brighton University identified the
phenomenon of "studentification" in Headingley, Leeds, where the influx
of students led to profound changes. Students areas tend to attract
late-night food and cheap alcohol outlets, a rise in rat infestations
and the conversion of family homes into "houses in multiple occupancy".

Peter Bolton King, the chief executive of the National Association of
Estate Agents, said: "By their nature students don't mow the front
garden once a week, they can leave their rubbish out and can come back
late in the morning. And sometimes there are problems with parties."

But Mr Bolton King, who represents 10,000 estate agents, said that
students did not necessarily cause a problem, just as families with
teenage children might also be trouble-free. "This survey is perhaps
more a comment on social attitudes. I'm sure there are some unruly
pensioners," he said.

The director of propertyfinder.com, Nicholas Leeming, said: "Our
neighbours have a significant influence on our quality of life... and
increasingly, house hunters are prepared to pay a premium for a quiet,
trouble-free life."

The National Union of Students described the survey's findings as
grossly unfair.