Letting a property to "unruly students" may not appeal to every landlord. But property investors in the UK are finding that the student rental market can generate higher-than-average returns for buy-to-let investors - if, of course, they are prepared to get over the inevitable wine stains and dirty bathrooms.

Many smaller landlords in Britain are finding it harder to make the sums add up on residential property investments. High values and rising borrowing costs have squeezed rental yields just as property price growth is beginning to cool.

But yields from the student market are proving fairly resilient. Rental demand is strong from school-leavers entering higher education. Rents are often underwritten by parents or guardians and landlords can squeeze more paying tenants into each property.

Nigel Terrington, chief executive of the Paragon Group, the British buy-to-let lender, says: "Students typically provide a higher return. Letting this type of property requires a bit more understanding, but it is an area where we know demand is robust and there is a yield premium compared with renting to a family."

Paragon says that properties where at least 50 per cent of tenants are students typically have a gross yield of 7.5 per cent in Britain, compared with 5.9 per cent for non-student properties.

Rising property prices in Ireland over recent years have put a squeeze on yields, but the picture seems to be changing.

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has warned of an accommodation crisis for the thousands of students starting college this year. A slowing property market is said to be a major cause of the shortage of rental properties for students - there has been a 20 per cent drop since last year.

Students are competing with workers who either find themselves priced out of the property market or are adopting a wait and see approach on house prices and the effects of any stamp duty reform and are opting to remain in rented accommodation.

"There is a dire shortage of student accommodation and the young professional is a much more attractive tenant for landlords," says Alan Brady, director of Terenure-based Accommodation Lettings.

"The big problem for everybody is that rents have gone up across the board, whether it is for professionals or for students. Rents have probably gone up 10 per cent in the 12 months and in some cases it's more."

A three-bedroom apartment in Smithfield which Brady was letting for €1,060 a year ago was re-let for €2,200 two weeks ago - an increase of 35 per cent. And it was let on first viewing. "There was no problem getting tenants and they were professionals," he said.

Returns from professional people are so good that students are not getting a look in. However, even if that was not the case, professionals are still regarded as a safer bet.

"You have to ask yourself are students better tenants than PAYE workers? Is the wear and tear worth whatever possible higher yield?" says Fiachra McCloskey, creative director with Rathmines-based Let.ie.

Still, any parent planning to buy a property to save on their child's accommodation costs is advised to think carefully. "I wouldn't recommend that parents buy a property somewhere just because their child is going to study there," says Terrington. "This is more the domain of the professional landlord. You have to look at it as a long-term investment. Three or four years won't do it."

Predictions for property price growth over the next 12 months are also significantly more sober than they have been in recent years.

Another issue for landlords taking students is the sharp growth in the number of purpose-built privately-owned apartment blocks for students. These new developments, which usually offer Wi-Fi internet and ensuite rooms, have created a surplus of bed spaces.

"The new bespoke units have brought a huge new tranche of housing which has eaten into demand for traditional three-bedroom terraced houses," says Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack. "Investors should be careful not to invest in an area that might suffer."

These new blocks of flats have put pressure on rental growth in some areas. "In general, rents are rising, but in the student market there are very different trends between different locations, depending on supply and demand," says Donnell.

Owning student property also means high upkeep costs, fast turnover of tenants and potential void periods during the long holidays.