Accreditation checklist
To become an accredited letting agent you must meet all of the requirements detailed on this checklist.
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LSH Standards
Letting agents must give a commitment to meet the requirements of the LSH Standards. In doing so, students are expecting LSH accredited letting agents to ensure the properties they manage are safe, that letting agents follow legal and correct business practices, and provide good standards of customer service.
If students think that an LSH accredited letting agent is in breach of the LSH Standards, they can make a complaint to us and our LSH Standards Officer will investigate. If it is found that the complaint is upheld, then the letting agent is given the opportunity to rectify the issues in order to meet our standards.
If a letting agent continues to breach the standards, the complaint is put before an arbitration panel who will decide whether they can remain with LSH.
Legal requirements
Client money protection - Letting agents must join a client money protection scheme, to ensure landlords and tenants are compensated if the letting agent cannot repay their money. For a list of currently approved schemes to join, click here. Letting agents can face a fixed penalty fine of up to £5000 if they are not a member of a scheme and do not display a membership certificate or provide it when asked.
Letting agent redress scheme - All letting agents legally have to be a member of one of two government approved redress schemes, either The Property Ombudsman or The Property Redress Scheme. Letting agent redress schemes provide a free, independent service for resolving disputes between letting agents and their tenants. Both tenants and landlords can use the scheme to resolve disputes and the end decision made by the scheme is legally binding for all involved. Letting agents can face a fixed penalty fine of up to £5000 if they are not a member of a redress scheme.
Right to Rent - This legislation was introduced in February 2016, meaning letting agents must carry out checks on a persons identity and immigration status to ensure they have the 'Right to Rent'. For more information, including a letting agents' obligations, please visit our dedicated Right to Rent page.
How to Rent - It is a legal requirement that the latest version of the How to Rent guide is issued to tenants at the commencement of any tenancy agreement or upon any renewal (if the document has been updated). If the guide is not provided at the commencement of the tenancy then a Section 21 Notice will not be enforceable. It is therefore extremely important this requirement is complied with.
Tenant Fees Act - From 1 June 2019, letting agents are no longer able to charge a number of fees for new or renewed tenancies in England signed on or after that date. Examples of banned fees include admin charges, reference or credit check fees and charges for guarantor forms. Some fees can still be charged, such as for late payment of rent or for replacement keys lost by a tenant.
For more information, please visit our dedicated Tenant Fees Act page.
Deposit protection - You may choose to charge a security deposit during the tenancy period to cover rent arrears or any damages that may occur to the property. If so, it is a legal requirement for all letting agents to secure deposits in a Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme, and this must be done within 30 days of receipt of a deposit. Deposits are capped at 5 weeks rent where the property annual rent is below £50,000, and 6 weeks rent for annual property rents over £50,000.
If you fail to protect a deposit with one of the approved schemes within 30 days, the a tenant can apply to the county court to request their deposit is repaid to them. The court also has the discretion to request you to pay compensation to the tenant, of up to 3 times the amount of the original deposit.
Holding deposits, a payment charged to a prospective tenant to reserve a property, are capped at 1 weeks rent. Should the tenant then enter a tenancy, the holding deposit can either be returned within 7 days of agreeing the tenancy, or put towards the security deposit (at which point it must be protected) or the first rent installment.
For further information on deposits, click here.
Landlord licensing - Some houses of multiple occupancy (HMO properties) require a property licence. Where this applies, letting agents must supply evidence to LSH that a licence has been granted or applied for in their name, or that of the landlord. View more details on licensing, including which properties currently require a licence, how to apply and information on Liverpool's selective licensing scheme, here.
ANUK landlord handbook
Fire safety
Website user guides
For help with re-advertising a property, view our handy PDF guide.
Accreditation fees and online payments
For our fees for the accreditation term commencing 2 December 2024, please click here. Letting agents can pay for their accreditation fees and/or property assessments via our online store. Here you will also be able to make payment to upgrade your accreditation band, as well as purchase tenancy agreements and/or property highlights. For help paying online, please view our online payment guide.
Marketing opportunities
Online property advert - When your accreditation request is approved, your property advert will appear on our website and you can update the information as often as you wish (please note all changes are subject to vetting). The property advert includes the facilities that your property has, safety certificate expiry dates, photographs and a video, a map of where it’s located and your contact details.
Dont forget to include a detailed description to highlight key selling points, good quality photos and up to date contact details. Many students will also create an account with LSH to enquire about properties, so if you have selected to be receive online enquiries, please ensure you check your account on a regular basis (especially during peak periods). You will be sent email notifications when you receive an online enquiry, to ensure these emails do not go into your junk/spam folder, please add studentpad/pad-group to your list of trusted recipients.
LSH logo - For the terms of use of the LSH logo, please click here. Letting agents must seek permission to use the LSH logo.
Housing fair - Each year LSH hosts the only student housing fair in Liverpool, close to the launch date for properties for the following academic year.
We invite all of our accredited letting agents to exhibit at the fair (additional charges apply) and we promote the events widely through the universities and students’ unions. These events are well attended and are an excellent opportunity for accommodation providers to meet with students and promote their properties for the next academic year. Details of the housing fairs are sent out each summer by email to currently accredited letting agents, so it is important to ensure your contact details are up to date to ensure you don't miss out! Please note, letting agents must have been accredited for a period of at least 12 months immediately prior to the fairs, to be eligible to attend.
Property highlighting - To help an advert really stand out on our website, you can also highlight a property for an additional charge of £35 for the duration of the particular accreditation period. Adverts will have a coloured background in the search results list and will always appear before adverts that are not highlighted, whenever a property search takes place. This is similar to sponsored adverts on Google.
AV screen advert - This is a unique opportunity for fully accredited landlords and agents to promote their brand and accommodation directly on campus. Slots on the screen will be offered on a first come first served basis (limited to a single slot per provider), subject to providers meeting the Terms and Conditions. Accommodation providers may advertise between 1 December and 30 September. To view more information, please view our AV rate card.
Let agreed - Once you have secured tenants for your property, you have the option to disable your property advert, or to mark it as 'let agreed' and continue to display it on the website. The 'let agreed' facility is a positive promotional point, as students will still see the property has been let, and this indicates your success in renting out properties which could encourage them to look at similar properties you are advertising on our website that are still available. We kindly ask that you regularly update your property listings, when rooms are taken and/or become available, and that properties that are fully let are taken down or marked as let agreed.
Example tenancy agreements
As an exclusive benefit of LSH accreditation, you are able to purchase sample tenancy agreements from us at a cost of £2.50 each. We offer both individual tenancy templates and joint tenancy templates, both of which have been drafted by a housing solicitor.
Campaigns
Taking a multi-agency approach, LSH work in partnership with Merseyside Police, Citysafe and other key stakeholders to deliver a number of burglary reduction campaigns. You can view these campaigns here, along with details of how to request burglary reduction campaign stickers to display within your accredited managed properties.
Briefing notes
Throughout the year LSH regularly communicates with accredited letting agents to share important market information and provide updates on what LSH have been doing. A range of the briefing notes we have recently shared can be seen here.
Common problems in student accommodation
Disputes between letting agents and tenants - As well as supporting students, we support letting agents to resolve disputes so that an amicable outcome can be reached. We help to mediate to help with disagreements to do with disrepair, student and letting agent responsibilities, rent arrears, payment of bills and return of deposits. We always recommend that both letting agents and students maintain open communications but we understand that disagreements can arise. We can advise you on positive steps to take, to help resolve issues with your tenants and your obligations, however, we are not a replacement for legal advice.
Bed bugs - Bedbug infestations are on the rise, mainly due to the increase of world-wide travel. We recommend that you seek an experienced expert in bedbug control. They should be a member of the British Pest Control Association.
Liverpool City Council have produced an information leaflet about preventing bedbugs and what to do if you think you have an infestation in your property. Please note, Liverpool City Council do not offer a service for the treatment of bedbugs.
Mould and condensation - One of the most common complaints that we hear about at LSH is mould growth in properties. Quite often student tenants will not realise that the majority of mould growth is due to the build up of condensation and poor ventilation in their property. If your tenants do report mould, always have it checked to make sure there are no serious damp problems in the property.
If the mould is due to condensation, you may want to advise your tenants about ventilating the property and making sure that they are not drying clothes on radiators. Liverpool City Council - Liverpool Healthy Homes, have produced a leaflet about controlling condensation and mould.
Security - Student accommodation is a prime target for thieves due to the number of high value items that students own, such as laptops, tablet computers and mobile phones. Ensuring that your property meets the security standards that LSH expect will help towards reducing the risk of burglary. View page 11 of the LSH Standards which covers security. As part of our ongoing commitment to student safety, our various burglary reduction campaigns aim to educate students about key safety messages.
Student market information
Market background
The Liverpool student rental sector has always operated with an abundance of accommodation in the city with, at times, an oversupply. Over recent decades the city has seen enormous growth in Purpose Build Student Accommodation (PBSA) in and around the city centre, pulling students away from what were previously preferred areas in other parts of the city. The knock-on effect of this is, in some areas, we have seen the complete withdrawal of student dwellings as student choices shifted to wanting to live within close proximity of the city centre.
LSH has continued to advise new investors to the city to conduct comprehensive due diligence in respect of the market and to research specific areas with specific reference to planning and potential impact from Article 4, which was introduced in some parts of the city by Liverpool City Council to address the high levels of HMO’s.
Renting to students - Rent levels vary considerably depending on the location on the property, standard and range of facilities, and you can view average rents by area and property size on our statistics page. If you offer all inclusive rents you may want to consider an annual cap for the cost of bills, which should be clearly stated in the tenancy agreement. The amount should be fair and be based on an accurate estimate of the energy consumption for the property (see the property Energy Performance Certificate). If the tenants go over the cap, they will be required to pay the additional bill and you should provide them with a copy of the fuel bill as evidence of this.
You are free to choose whoever you want as tenants, however discrimination against students on grounds of sexual orientation, race, creed, colour or religion is illegal and LSH will take action against anyone who contravenes this. Letting agents can only specify a preference for male or female students within their property description if the property already has tenants of one gender only.
There is always a need for accommodation for families, students with a disability and short-term lets for exchange students. If you are willing to offer accommodation to these groups, please ensure you have selected these options on your advert. LSH will not recommend individual students to letting agents, neither will we recommend particular letting agents and/or agents.
Where do students live and study - See below for student numbers for the 2021/22 academic year
| Institution |
Undergraduates |
Postgraduates |
Total Students |
| University of Liverpool |
22265 |
6415 |
28680 |
| Liverpool John Moores University |
22510 |
5590 |
28100 |
| Liverpool Hope University |
4360 |
1280 |
5640 |
| Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts |
|
|
990 |
| Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine |
|
|
270 |
Source: HESA.ac.uk (information up to date as of July 2024)
On the map below, the campuses are marked in red and the areas in which students live are outlined. You can view more information about where students live on our dedicated Liverpool area guide page.
Community cohesion
Liverpool Student Homes works with stakeholder universities, students' unions and external partners to develop initiatives that encourage positive relationships between students and the local community. Find out more about this here.
LSH Policies and Terms and Conditions
Useful contacts for letting agents