“Even if all landlords don’t ultimately end up renting a particular unit to college students, many of the landlords – and their rental agents – advertise in hopes of doing so and in hopes of collecting exorbitant rents from groups of undergraduates, or for that matter, groups of graduate students. In other words, the number of apartments pitched to college students is greater than the number that are ultimately rented by college students because rarely does supply precisely match demand in this context. In fact, this is proven by the remnants of rentals still available on the internet now in Brighton and Allston that were geared toward students for September 1, and went unfilled by college students apparently.”
Mike,
I'm finally getting around to writing about your comment in which you wondered if college students were being scapegoated for high rents and prices in Brighton. Here's my thinking:
College students have an impact on housing far beyond their pure numbers. Just think of it: leases in Allston and Brighton (and certain other neighborhoods of the city) begin September 1. Now that’s not because professionals or working people or singles or even families suddenly need housing on September 1, but rather it’s because college students drive the Boston rental market and the September 1 date is intended to coincide with the start of the first semester of the college calendar year.
Even if all landlords don’t ultimately end up renting a particular unit to college students, many of the landlords – and their rental agents – advertise in hopes of doing so and in hopes of collecting exorbitant rents from groups of undergraduates, or for that matter, groups of graduate students. In other words, the number of apartments pitched to college students is greater than the number that are ultimately rented by college students because rarely does supply precisely match demand in this context. In fact, this is proven by the remnants of rentals still available on the internet now in Brighton and Allston that were geared toward students for September 1, and went unfilled by college students apparently.
As a result of college students driving the rental market, rents in areas where there are concentrations of students such as Brighton and Allston are dominated by, and distorted by, the effect of those thousands of students in the marketplace. The high rents typically don't reflect the quality of the housing – rather, they reflect the number of tenants the landlord expects to be able to fit into the apartment or house, specifically, and often, the number of college students with different financial resources, such as parents.
If college students didn’t have such an impact on rents in Allston and Brighton (and, as a consequence, housing prices in general since the market value of homes and condos is correspondingly affected by rents), you wouldn’t see the overwhelming number of leases in our area begin September 1, and apartments so heavily advertised for September 1. The fact that lease terms start on September 1 for the most part in Allston and Brighton is so well-recognized that the media regularly covers the jammed streets and chaos that ensues each year in our neighborhoods on that date. No such traffic and moving-in chaos occurs at other times of the year, and there is no media coverage. In fact, the only activity remotely approaching the move-in frenzy of September 1 in Allston and Brighton is the moving-out chaos at the end of the college year – May.
So, I think that the empirical proof of the impact of college students on Brighton and Allston rents is prevalence of lease terms beginning on September 1, and the accompanying advertising that we all have access to on the internet in the spring and summer where landlords and agents flood the rental listings seeking tenants for September 1. There is simply no other time of the year that I am aware of in which so many apartments and homes in Brighton and Allston are advertised to start a lease term, other than September 1.
Joanne
Charles, in response to your second point rental applications ask for employer/occupation and landlords can ask one if he/she is a student.
Not sure if you are on the Cleveland Circle group, but there are more posts on there stating that students are not a protected class, so landlords can say no students, no pets, certain income limits and credit reports etc.
While I do think schools need to provide enough beds for all their undergrads, I wonder if students are being scapegoated for high rents and prices in Brighton. According to this Globe article there are about 1.5k students living off campus in Brighton.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/04/08/more-college-students-living-boston-campuses/tbSJ3Ab9Bx47pRR9JQmpMO/igraphic.html?p1=Article_Graphic
Brighton has a population approaching 40k people, so off campus undergrads are less than 4 percent of the population. If/when they all return to campus how will prices change?
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