Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Breaking News:

Nigerian students spending N453,000 weekly in London rental market

By Chinedum Uwaegbulam
14 September 2015   |   12:06 am
A NEW report by private rental market lettings firm, E J Harris has listed wealthy Nigerian students as top spenders in the London rental market, and among most affluent international student clients from China, Thailand, Russia, and Malaysia that pay N453, 000 (£1,500) per week for an apartment in Knightsbridge or Mayfair.
Nigerian-students-in-london

Nigerian students in London

Despite the huge and envious space for entertaining, EJ Harris say landlords like overseas students because they are extremely good tenants, they are very studious, tend to be quiet and hard working. 

A NEW report by private rental market lettings firm, E J Harris has listed wealthy Nigerian students as top spenders in the London rental market, and among most affluent international student clients from China, Thailand, Russia, and Malaysia that pay N453, 000 (£1,500) per week for an apartment in Knightsbridge or Mayfair.

The richest overseas students spend a huge N1.5 million (£5,000) per week on luxury flats that have bedrooms bigger than the average London flat. This is a bedroom in Abbey Lodge near Regent’s Park.

The new research has found that 107,000 international students studying in London contribute some £600 million in rental income to the capital’s rental market.

The bedrooms are impeccable and the rich parents of an overseas student will happily pay the equivalent of a year’s wage for a typical British worker on a flat.

Using data from their own client instructions over the last three years and drawing on figures from the Government’s Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the firm analysed the number and country of origin of foreign students in the capital, where they choose to live, the type of properties they let and how much they spend in the private rental sector.

There are some 107,000 international students studying in London, 40,000 from continental Europe and 67,000 from the rest of the world. Overall they spend £1.32 billion on tuition fees, some £1.36 billion on accommodation and subsistence of which £600 million goes on private lets or halls of residence costs and £121 million through friends and family visiting them in London whilst they study.

By country of origin, the largest group of international students studying and living in London come from China who make up 18 per cent of all foreign students in the capital, followed by students from the USA at 9 per cent, India 7 per cent, Hong Kong 5 per cent, Malaysia 4 per cent and Nigeria 4 per cent. Other significant foreign student nationalities are people from Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Pakistan and Canada.

On an annual basis some 20 per cent of the firm’s clients in inner London are students. Of these 50 per cent are foreign students, the balance are British students. They are normally 18 to 22 years of age from affluent families.

The report suggests that the bank of mum and dad predominantly provides the accommodation for these students although some receive special grants from their respective countries.

The wealthiest overseas students tend to prefer living in Mayfair, Knightsbridge, Marylebone and South Kensington, whilst others and British students tend to live in Notting Hill, Bayswater, Shepherds Bush and Kingston Upon Thames.     The most affluent international student clients are from China, Thailand, Russia, Malaysia and Nigeria.

For example, on Old Brompton Road, just by the underground station, there is an apartment building extremely popular with affluent overseas students.

However, the majority of overseas students typically pay £500 to £600 per week for a two-bedroom apartment in Notting Hill, South Kensington, Shepherds Bush or Bayswater.

In Shepherds Bush the Sinclair Mansions apartment building is very popular with students and whenever a flat becomes available there are up to 500 enquiries from students from around the world wanting to secure the let.

According to EJ Harris, the reason for overseas students wanting a large flat for the time they’re studying is to accommodate friends and family visiting them in London. Apparently, this can amount to £121 million ($186 million) extra in spending.

Despite the huge and envious space for entertaining, EJ Harris say landlords like overseas students because they are “extremely good tenants, they are very studious and take their studies in London extremely seriously.

They tend to be quiet, hard working. “There are over 100,000 international students studying and living in London and their numbers are rising.

University applications from overseas students are up by 18 per cent since 2010, and up by 30 per cent for the capital’s best universities,” said Elizabeth Harris, managing director of E J Harris.    “In our experience international students make for extremely good tenants, they are very studious and take their studies in London extremely seriously. As tenants they tend to be quiet, hard working and tidy. Smoking tends to be the only common vice,” she added.

0 Comments