India’s nascent student housing market is booming, fuelling ample opportunities for growth and spurring expansion among existing players.
Student housing operators including your-space, Zolostays and Curated Living are chalking up ambitious expansion plans as they target more than 50% growth in FY24, buoyed by robust demand from both domestic and international students.
Curated Living intends to expand its current bed capacity by as much as 2.5 times by end-FY25 while Zolo Scholar, the student housing segment of Zolostays, is looking to double its portfolio by end-FY24. Your-space plans to close this fiscal with 15,000 beds, increasing it to 25,000 by the end of next year.
Operators say a bevy of factors are driving the boom in purpose-built student accommodations (PBSAs): India’s young population, increasing enrolment in higher education, surge in students migrating to cities with a greater concentration of educational institutions, growing investor and developer interest, and students’ preference for quality, organised accommodation.
Like in the case of 21-year-old Mohammed Ali who zeroed in on Ivy League House (Curated Living’s student housing brand) when he moved from UAE to Pune for studies. The 24/7 security along with CCTV surveillance as well as a monthly food committee which took students' suggestions while implementing weekly food plans sealed the deal for him.
“Different religious and non-religious festivals are celebrated too, and there are lots of socialising options for students,” Ali told ET. Parents are a very important part of decision-making and are willing to pay a premium for comfortable, safe, hygienic accommodation for their children, said Nidhi Kumra, CEO of your-space. “Educational campuses are currently able to offer accommodation to only 20-30% of migrating students -- 70-80% need to find their own, opening up a large market for players like us,” she said. The company provides everything including Wi-Fi, food, laundry, housekeeping, security etc at a roughly 10% premium to traditional local options such as hostels and paying guest accommodations where students need to arrange everything on their own, she added. Charges at your-space range from Rs 10,000 for twin-sharing in Indore to Rs 30,000 in Mumbai’s posh Vile Parle. A recent Colliers India study found that student relocation within India is expected to touch 31.1 million by 2035-36, from around 11.3 million as of 2021-22. The 7.5 million-odd beds currently available are far from sufficient to even meet the current demand. The student relocation for higher education is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.5% per annum, opening a vast market potential.
Not surprisingly, student housing operators are eyeing expansion in big metros as well as existing and upcoming educational hubs including Kota, Vadodara, and Nagpur.
Curated Living currently operates in eight cities with an overall inventory of more than 10,000 beds for student accommodation and co-living, enjoying an occupancy rate of more than 90%. Over the next two years, the company intends to double capacity in Bengaluru, its largest market; boost overall bed capacity to 25,000 beds by end-FY25 and add at least five new cities.
“Concurrently, we are exploring opportunities in cities that show great potential due to their educational infrastructure and student influx: Kota, where student housing demand is skyrocketing; NCR, Indore, Ahmedabad, as well as tier-2 cities where new educational institutions are coming up and the student housing market is still nascent,” said Jaikishan Challa, founder, Curated Living.
At Zolostays, Zolo Scholar accounts for about 33,000 of the total 60,000 beds offered in co-living and student housing space. “Our evolution as Zolo Scholar has seen us transition from focusing solely on B2C to forging strategic partnerships to empower universities that have a global vision to expand and provide a great student experience,” said Nikhil Sikri, chief executive, Zolostays.
Your-space’s Kumra says the company is planning to get a deeper foothold in existing markets besides identifying micro markets where clusters of new universities are opening up. The firm intends to expand its footprint to 4-5 new cities such as Baroda and Visakhapatnam to add to the existing 11 cities.
What’s driving the surge:
Increase in higher education enrolment in India
Urbanization – more students migrating to educational hubs
Quality and Convenience
Organised players perceived to score over local options in safety and security, value-added services; community and networking, etc
BySreeradha Basu &Brinda Sarkar
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/property-/-cstruction/whats-driving-the-demand-in-indias-nascent-student-housing-market/articleshow/105215302.cms
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