Hundreds of students across the city hope to be first in line to secure their dream home next week when over 100 city flats become available for rent for the summer term.

Due to an increasing demand for quality student properties in the city, Edinburgh student property management and lettings specialist Cullen Property will list the flats they have available for rent this summer on their website from Tuesday 10th February. On the same day they will also attend the Edinburgh University Student Accommodation Fair where students will get the first chance to see the 100 three to six bedroom Cullen properties available.

Students will also be given full lists of the set property viewings, being held over Wednesday 11th – Friday 13th February in the Marchmont, Bruntsfield and Newington areas, and Cullen representatives will be on hand to discuss all property options and lease start dates, as well as providing descriptions on all available properties. Based on previous years, Cullen Property is keen to stress how competitive it can be to successfully secure the flats, with students using a range of creative ideas to bag their favourite flat before everyone else.

Steve Coyle, Operations Director at Cullen Property, says: “Every year we see at least 50 students turn up for each viewing, sometimes twice that amount, and we always have queues up the street. It really is a competitive process and one that only the most creative and organised students will win. We’ve seen everything from students pre-booking taxis to ensure they make it to our office first to semi-professional cyclists waiting outside the property for the ‘go’ sign out of the window from their prospective housemate.

“Overall we are seeing a rising demand for quality student property and, with the UK student population increasing annually by 3.5%, this demand is set to increase further. We wanted to make it easier for students to find their ideal home for the upcoming academic year and this way it means they won’t have to spend precious time trawling through websites and agencies looking for available properties. We expect to have let all 100 properties within three to four weeks so it’s looking to be one of the busiest times of the year for us.”