As summer nears, University of Wisconsin students are creating off-campus sublease listings, seeking tenants to occupy their apartments during the summer break. Despite their efforts, housing experts indicate a recurring trend — an oversupply of available subleases floods the market annually.
UW professor of urban planning Kurt Paulsen said thousands of students leave Madison for the summer, whether to return home, take internships elsewhere or attend summer classes at other universities. This mass exodus each year floods the sublease market with available units.
“When there is high supply and low demand, sublessors have to lower their prices significantly from the actual lease amount just to find a tenant,” Paulsen said.
One aspect of Madison’s rental market compounding the oversupply of summer units is that most off-campus leases in Madison are for 12 months, despite students often only being in town for the fall and spring semesters, according to Paulsen. This leaves two months of an empty unit that student renters are still responsible for paying.
While the mismatch between academic and lease calendars poses a consistent problem for students, there are limited policy solutions. The City of Madison and the university have no authority over private lease terms, Paulsen said. Wisconsin Statute 66.1015 prohibits the government regulation of rental prices for residential properties.
Tenant Resource Center Housing Counseling Program Manager Jeff LeMessurier said Wisconsin’s main legislation on residential rental properties is Chapter 704, which contains a series of regulations related to landlords and tenants.
“We don’t set forth any policy or any recommendations,” LeMessurier said of the work of the Tenant Resource Center. “We are just there to report what the community is experiencing and what we’re witnessing. That way, the people who are in positions to create policy and different things have that information.”
The main advice related to summer subleases remains educating students on reading lease agreements carefully before signing up, consulting a parent and utilizing tenant help resources if issues arise over damages or responsibilities.
“If you talk to private landlords, they would point out that they have 12 months worth of expenses,” Paulsen said. “And so they need to charge a rent that’s going to cover their costs over the full year. It’s unfortunate for students, but it is the terms of the lease that they signed when they signed the lease.”
Some apartments are explicitly marketed to student tenants, such as Lucky Apartments, Paulsen said. These apartment complexes often offer flexible lease accommodation that includes semester, academic or annual leases. The academic lease date is specifically set for the academic year, running from August 2024 to May 2025 for the upcoming term, according to the Lucky Apartments website.
But reaching a wider audience often takes savvy social media promotion or paid platforms students may not know about, Paulsen said. UW hosts a website called the Campus Area Housing Marketplace, which aggregates apartment listings near campus and tenant resources. Paulsen advises students to post listings on the Campus Area Housing Marketplace and to contact potential subletters early in the spring to improve their chances of filling their lease.
There are two conditions that may allow a tenant to end their lease early, according to the Tenant Resource Center. One condition is where special circumstances exist, such as if the rental unit is considered unlivable, or if a clause in the rental agreement is unenforceable.
If no special circumstances exist, a tenant may have the option to break the lease, or the landlord and tenant can come to a mutual agreement to terminate. A mutual agreement to terminate can come for many reasons, such as planned renovations or severe disputes, according to the Tenant Resource Center. These reasons should always be recorded in writing, and the termination should be agreed on by all roommates on the lease in order for the termination to go into effect.
As summer quickly approaches, many students continue the search for summer subletters to avoid paying for housing they won’t occupy. For students stuck with unused summer leases, advertising their sublet — both online and within social circles — is key.
“Most people that I know sublet to friends, or people they knew or friends of friends, so I think a lot of it is word of mouth,” Paulsen said. “[My] advice would be to reach out to people early and maybe advertise it a little bit.”
