Future of student housing in India

India boasts the third-largest higher education system globally, and they are the ideal demographic for the student housing sector.

?At present, only 20% of student housing demand in India is satisfied by educational institute-run (PBSA). While the housing business is still unstructured in 80% of cases, it is expected to attract USD 700 million in investments by 2023.

If we talk about the growth in this sector post-COVID, it is expected to see an increase in student housing, where the organized players in the business are seeing a 20-30% increment in their inventory.

Currently, offline sessions have been taking place in many locations across the country, but after the lockdown is lifted completely, operators and developers will have to follow new norms. We can say health and hygiene would be a top priority for student housing.

Going ahead, Tier-2 cities are also expected to experience an increase in student housing. This is since many new universities are opening in these areas.

Who are the major players in the student housing sector?

Several players have made tremendous strides. OxfordCaps has grown from 200 to 6,000 beds in 2022. Stanza Living is another player that has already opened 27 facilities in Bengaluru and Pune. Your-Space, a student housing startup, has received Rs. 75 crores for 7,000 operational beds in nine cities, and it targets to have more than 20,000 beds available by 2022-23.

Divyasree plans to build approximately 1 lakh beds over the next three years, while Palacio is targeting 10,000 beds on the Pan-India level.

We may expect that the Indian student housing market will continue to increase in strength as it expands from big cities to smaller educational centers.

Due to favorable?demand and supply, we expect developers and operators to earn higher returns by investing in this asset class. Overall, student housing is expected to expand at a quicker rate than in the past, with the capacity to double by 2025.