Over a million student tenants in Poland. Analysis of preferences

Abstract

Students as property tenants are an underestimated and understudied aspect of the market. To date, there has been a widely held opinion that student decisions in the property market and their scope are mostly limited to the area of academic centres. It is estimated that, in Poland, over a million students enter into tenancy agreements annually, most of which are in the private property market. Such wide demand is directed at selected, diverse locations and dwellings of particular characteristics, satisfying the preferences of young people at a specific moment of their lives (the so-called "emerging adults"). The present article aims to present answers to the question of what motivates students who undertake transactions in the property market. Information on the characteristics of the sought after properties was obtained by way of surveys, leading to the generation of a set of the most important features determining the attractiveness of properties from the point of view of the analyzed population. The phenomenon of the popularity of particular locations (urban estates) has also been examined in detail.