Over 40 million (mn) students are enrolled in higher education institutes across India, and most universities are able to accommodate just about 18 to 20% of the students which offers the premium student housing market diverse opportunities to experiment and fulfil student expectations.
Tier 1 cities such as Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Kota, etc., make up 50% of total student enrolment in higher education, indicating the skewed preference for educational institutes in larger, urban centres.
A major fallout has been the need for private, off-campus accommodation options for these migrating students, who cannot be accommodated in the campus hostel facilities. In addition, off-campus private dwellings are largely informal in nature, even as professionally managed student accommodation has started gaining major traction.
Students and their parents/guardians alike have begun to consider the impact of accommodation quality on the academic experience and overall well-being. This has led to a greater demand for comfortable, hassle-free, and safe accommodation options made available by Organized Co-living operators. In a world where the impact of COVID will redefine many trends, the need for safe, hygienic and quality Organized Co-living, both on and off-campus, will gain more impetus.
Even though the higher education sector will see technology-induced changes, classroom teaching will sustain while pushing the need for quality accommodation. INTRODUCTION service staff, domestic helps, cooks, food and beverage vendors, marketing staff, accounts staff, sales team etc. A welcome aspect of this operational model is that the whole process takes place in an organized format with contracts and agreements. Like most industries in nascent stages, even as Organized Co-living has emerged in the forefront of alternative real estate asset and investment classes, the stakeholders continue to grapple with certain challenges.
This sector was served largely by unorganized paying guests, hostels which were operated by individuals and lacked the professional quality serving a large sector of Working men and women, students utilizing these services. With the entry of these well-funded organized players the standard of living has gone up so the make over wrt to offering and quality of these accomodations.
The student housing sector is undergoing a makeover in terms of its rapid expansion and diverse offerings. India isn’t far behind. With increased capital inflow into this asset class on the back of better yields that it offers in comparison to traditional rental housing models, Indian developers and operators are increasingly waking up to the opportunity in this segment and the demand for cost-competitive, high quality student living solutions. Investors too are getting the opportunity to generate good returns in prominent city locations by upcycling run-down or vacant assets. At the same time, on the demand side, development of modern student housing facilities is addressing the concerns of both parents and their wards. Gaining momentum over the last half decade, the industry has grown at a tremendous momentum with 50+ big and small start-ups operating a cumulative bed capacity of 3 lakh beds across various formats, amenities and price points.