ROOF Blog

Higher unemployment is forcing more young people into further education, increasing demand for short-term flats and providing a boost for Unite, the student accommodation developer. Demand is expected to accelerate at such a rate that Unite yesterday told investors it would continue to buy properties in student hotspots such as London and would not be reinstating the dividend — last paid in the middle of 2008 — until it had returned to ‘meaningful’ profit, even though the group announced a profit of £600,000 after a loss of £5.8 million in 2008. A lack of job opportunities was partly behind a 23% rise in the number of university applications between February 2009 and the same month this year, Mark Allan, chief executive of Unite, said yesterday.

A two-bedroom flat in County Durham has been labelled Britain’s cheapest flat after it was placed on the market for just £1000. Situated above a group of shops, the flat has an open-plan lounge and kitchen and is located in the heart of Catchgate, Stanley. But it has no water or electricity, rubble litters the floor, the walls have huge holes and the ceilings have crumbled leaving a corrugated iron roof to protect the rooms from wind and rain. The property was left to an unnamed woman in a divorce settlement, who realised it belonged to her after she began receiving council tax bills and other official letters. Estate agents are set to auction the first-floor flat, which they admit needs ‘refurbishing’.