We’re introducing a new way to manage your properties in Occupy with our latest update, which gives you control and creates a window to your buildings 

It’s been four months since we officially launched Housemates in the UK and Ireland and we’ve been delighted with the response from student accommodation operators of all sizes. Since then, we’ve been monitoring your feedback and also working with students to understand what they want from their accommodation booking experience. 

Today, we’re proud to introduce a major update to Housemates Occupy which builds on the first iteration of our product and will allow operators to manage their properties in an entirely new way. We believe that Occupy will act as a window to your building.

We’re glad you asked. We’ve launched a number of new features and enhancements in this release which will help property managers to fill bed spaces whilst lightening the workload when it comes to handling bookings. So, let’s dive into some of the highlights.

Edit building and room descriptions. This is what it says on the tin. From talking with students, we realise just how important your building and room descriptions are. That’s why it’s best to keep them fresh and relevant with regular updates. Now, there’s no need to email us or wait for your new description to be uploaded by our team. You can edit everything directly from Occupy and publish it instantly. As a start-up and challenger brand in the sector, it was surprising for us to hear that editing room and building descriptions in real-time was such a hassle and we're sure this feature will make things easier.

Edit building and room amenities. As with descriptions, amenities can now be edited by you as and when you wish. If you’ve invested in adding a gym or communal space to your building, we’re sure you don’t want to wait a second longer to advertise that to potential tenants, so now you don’t have to. Amenities provide a huge deal of reassurance to students that a building or room type is right for them, so it’s definitely worth taking a minute to check this in your dashboard.

Re-order building and room images. Whilst Occupy already allowed you to upload and remove images, our latest update allows you to drag-n-drop your images into a different order. Your first image will be featured on the results page, so it’s best to pick something that makes your building stand out. We also recommend using separate images per room-type to show students exactly why they should pay extra for that room upgrade. 

Edit booking periods, rent and availability. The world is different now. Where you might have previously worked towards 44 and 51-week tenancies, students are increasingly adapting to a changing education landscape and looking for flexible options to match, with the pandemic acting as a catalyst for this. That’s why we’ve made it easy for you to add new booking periods to your rooms. For each room type, you can head to the “Booking periods” section to either add a pre-existing booking period or make an entirely new one. This is also where you can set the total rent, reservation payment (holding deposit), whether you accept instalments and number of available rooms. All of this can be edited or removed, too.

So there you go, with all the tools you’re free to manage your properties with ease and make your listings look their best, without waiting. We’re confident this will ultimately lead to higher conversions, especially as student demand returns this spring. Before you update your details, please take a moment to read our Platform Standards first.

As always, we strongly encourage you to share your feedback with us so that we can make Housemates Occupy the best platform to manage and promote your properties on. We look forward to hearing from you.

Introducing a new way to manage your properties with Occupy

Our Product Designer discusses the process behind a major update to Housemates Occupy, our student property management tool.

Last week we launched a major update to Occupy, with a host of new features and enhancements to make it easy to manage your listings when it suits you. Our Product Designer, Lewis, joins us in this post to discuss the design and engineering process for the latest release, including some important decisions made and what that could mean for the future.

We've recently begun an overhaul of our Occupy platform for operators to make managing properties and bookings easier than ever. Occupy was built to supplement our marketplace by presenting booking data to a building manager in a way they could quickly digest - it's now so much more than that.

Inventory management software generally gets a bad rap when it comes to aesthetics and usability. Tables nested in tables leading to other tables makes sense to some, but is a pain to work with. This piece of software is something a building manager uses daily, so why is it so cumbersome to use? We set out to solve that.

Our Occupy platform does it's job in terms of displaying data, but we have huge ambitions for this to grow into an all singing all dancing piece of management software. We hit a stage where we felt we were bolting features onto a platform that wasn't designed to scale, so we rethought it.

We started by reviewing what's currently out there, both in the student space and in the inventory management space in general. We found there to be two extremes, platforms that do a lot under the hood, but present data in a way that is virtually unusable. Then platforms that look great, but lack some key features that are required for them to be world beaters. In all honesty, we probably fell into the latter.

One great thing about Housemates is the fact that we're a startup - we're much more adaptable to change than large corporations. We wanted to be that platform that looks great and does everything our competitors do and more. We work closely with our clients and want to make the process of managing inventory, processing bookings and everything that comes with it as seamless as possible. Feedback really does shape our roadmap and it's a great way to build.

The first major change was rethinking the information architecture as a whole. In the new version of Occupy, the building is at the centre of everything. A building has bookings, a description, images, amenities and rooms. A room then has its own bookings, a description, images and amenities. We weren't displaying the data in this way and many of our competitors aren't either - so we've changed that. By structuring it this way, it gives us plenty of room to scale. We may decide to add building specific offers or listing performance stats - these could simply be added to your building page.

Another huge addition to Occupy is the ability to edit listings instantly and effortlessly. We want our operators to have freedom when it comes to their listings and everything can be managed in their easy to use dashboard. We've planted some helpful tooltips along the way to help building managers use our platform to its full potential.

We've broken down adding a listing as a process. Previously, we'd require you to have building and room information upfront when creating a listing. We appreciate that it doesn't quite work like that and feedback gathered from our users reinforced this. As a result, we opted to separate out the process. Create a building, add a room type, go for a brew, come back and add another room type. It just works much nicer - and we're excited about it.

What could we see in the future from Housemates Occupy?

There may have already been a few spoilers in my previous answers. But we'd love to display listing data and insights to our building managers. It's in our best interest to have an operator's listing looking and performing great. This would be designed alongside our registered operators to provide meaningful data that could really elevate their business. Watch this space and if you have feedback, we’d love to hear from you.


Wait - there’s more. We’ll have more helpful and exciting updates to come in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, to find out more about the additional features in our latest release, don’t miss our previous blog post. 

Housemates report on UK student demand in the wake of the COVID-19 second wave 

Student Accommodation Demand Survey Report 2021_22.pdf

If you work in the student accommodation sector, you’ll know already that the second wave of Covid-19 in the UK has had a dramatic impact on the ordinary student booking cycle, with early-bird booking only just starting to appear months later than usual. We worked with students across the UK to learn more about their expectations and requirements for booking accommodation in 2021/22.

Our findings show that the impact of the pandemic has not only delayed bookings, with over 60% of those we surveyed planning to book from May or later this year, but there has also been a change in many students requirements, especially when it comes to budget.  

61% of students intend to book accommodation from May onwards
69.8% of students haven’t booked due to lockdown uncertainty

Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) has seen a 13% increase in demand due to the negative experiences students have faced with private landlords and letting agencies throughout the pandemic.

Benefits such as on-site facilities, social activities, high security and included bills are highly important to students when it comes to choosing PBSA over renting an HMO through a letting agent or landlord, as is the perception of PBSA as a modern, clean and high-quality place to live. 

Despite this, students are looking for further flexibility in terms of tenancy contracts, cancellation policies and booking periods in order to accommodate their changing needs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic - which PBSAs are in a unique position to offer.

67.4% of students would feel more comfortable booking if there were good COVID-19 cancellation policies
17% of students say they preferred tenancy agreements of 6 months or less

Affordability is also a major factor, with many students indicating that their budget has reduced due to losing part-time work or having less financial support from their family or guardians. Shared twin rooms are an option that an increasing number of students are looking for in order to meet their new budgets.

There is further work required to educate students on the total cost of PBSA compared to other forms of renting, as students tend to perceive it as more expensive. Though, with bills included it tends to be a closer competition than thought. Housemates is working with the sector to improve this.

88% of students would use a platform that allows them to book accommodation in minutes by paying to reservation payment online

There is also a concrete demand for an instant booking platform like Housemates on the market and the vast majority of students are looking to book online. With booking demand predicted to bounce back up from the end of May onwards as further positive news around COVID-19 lockdown easing is expected, now is an excellent time to join the Housemates platform to ensure you have an efficient and Gen-Z friendly booking process that’s ready for the upcoming demand. Learn more on our business page.

Housemates is led by data. If you would like to learn more about what we do or work with us on future research or data projects, you can contact our CEO Lydia Jones directly at lydia@housemates.io.

Report: Student Accommodation Demand Survey 2021/22

We’ve launched an API for our marketplace data to enable new possibilities for the student accommodation industry

We’re delighted to announce the first iteration of our Marketplace API, a huge milestone in our vision to create a global ecosystem of platforms, operators, students and partners powered by our booking engine and data.

The Housemates Marketplace API allows external organisations to pull data from our growing ecosystem of student properties, search via geolocation and filter results by factors such as move-in date, budget or area radius. Results from the search queries can also then be ordered. For example, search results for a room in Manchester under £150 per week could be sorted by price from low to high.

We decided to build the Marketplace API as a simple and universal REST API and host on Amazon Web Services (AWS), to enable the service to be integrated into virtually any website or app with secure and reliable uptime.

Beyond importing Housemates data into existing marketplaces and new white-labelled platforms, creating this API enables us to expand our own marketplace with new features which will provide students with quick and easy access to properties which suit their requirements, further improving their booking experience and increasing the speed of conversion.

The API also allows for real-time analytical reporting, to benefit educational institutions and student-focused organisations. 

All operators are able to use the Housemates booking engine on their own sites with an ordinary URL link, however, in the future, we hope to allow operators to pull their inventory data from Housemates back into their existing websites, which will further reduce the hassle of managing data across many different sales channels.

If you’d like to discuss partnership opportunities, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch. Are you a developer? Jump straight into our API documentation.

Introducing: The Housemates Marketplace API

Housemates is calling for increased Covid-19 support for students, accommodation operators and the higher education sector

Last week, the UK Government announced an additional £50 million of support for students on top of the £20 million provided in December. Whilst this funding is welcome, it does not match the scale of the crisis currently faced by students, accommodation providers and the wider higher education sector which they support. In light of this, today we have written to the Minister of State for Universities, Michelle Donelan. 

To get behind our cause and pledge your support, you can visit the #SaveOurStudents website or contact us at media@housemates.io.

We are writing to you to express our concerns regarding the situation students, landlords and accommodation operators are facing due to Covid-19 and the need for further support, despite the recent £50 million of additional funding.

We welcome the additional support and believe it will be important to help protect ongoing work in widening access to education for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. However, we remain concerned about the experiences current students are facing and feel this support is not proportionate to the scale of the challenges faced by students.

Students are dealing with the deep physical and psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; losing family members and friends to the virus, losing jobs with often no protection from existing schemes, feeling isolated and disconnected from teaching staff, coursemates and friends, not having access to facilities, a chaotic shift to online learning with little notice and uncertainty about future prospects. 

Beyond the impact on their studies and careers, since being encouraged to return home for the winter break, the majority of students are now unfairly paying hundreds of pounds per month for private accommodation, as encouraged by the Government, but which they cannot return to.

Students are a unique section of society, with their own unique difficulties and requirements. They now need unique support to match.

It’s been almost 11 months since the furlough scheme was announced and this is set to continue until at least the end of April. Similar measures have protected leisure and hospitality businesses. The £22bn aviation sector has benefited from the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Finance Facility. The £80bn+ student sector now urgently needs targeted financial support.

The Government’s latest announcement asks all providers of student accommodation to make sure their rental policies have students’ best interests at heart and are communicated clearly, but this is vague and doesn’t support private operators and landlords who still need support to pay their own bills and investors if students aren’t paying them.

We believe the higher education sector could be a beacon of hope in response to this economic crisis, as it has been before. However, accommodation providers and landlords which support the sector need targeted financial support right now to put students first and ensure they themselves actually have a future beyond this pandemic. 

This sector starts and ends with students. Without providing further support the Government risks causing long-term damage for the entire HE sector, including student accommodation providers, as well as the regional economies they support, particularly in the Midlands, North of England, Wales and Scotland. The economic value of the HE sector cannot be understated, generating more than £73 billion a year in output for the British economy, contributing nearly 3% of UK GDP, and creating more than 750,000 jobs. ​In order to further the Government’s levelling up agenda, it is essential they safeguard the sector which drives economic growth and employment opportunities across the North of England. 

The Government must act now to provide accommodation operators with the financial support they need to cover these costs so that they can then support their student tenants with rent rebates or early-contract releases. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Students’ inquiry into tuition and accommodation costs during Covid-19 made a number of sensible and constructive recommendations to Government. Most notably, the ability for landlords and PBSA’s to rent out properties to non-students, allowing for students to be released from contracts early, resulting in a mitigation of the financial burden of accommodation costs and a freeing up of housing stock not being used. 

Alongside this, we would urge the Government to make firm commitments to increase the student hardship fund, means-tested assistance grants and make provisions for additional support to landlords and Purpose-Built Student Accommodation providers. 

We look forward to working with the Department for Education to bring forward constructive proposals that will benefit both students and accommodation providers. As such, we hope that you will provide us with the opportunity to brief you, or your officials on the issues facing the sector and the proposals we suggest would allow the HE sector and associated industries to thrive post-COVID. 

Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath

London School of Economics Students’ Union

We would welcome further support from student-focused businesses and organisations. If you are interested in supporting us, please contact media@housemates.io. You can also visit the #SaveOurStudents website.

Our letter to Government: Increase support for students and accommodation providers impacted by Covid-19

Housemates allows operators to easily take bookings with links which can be used on websites, social media, paid advertising or anywhere else

Whilst much of the world has been on hold, the Housemates team has been tremendously busy. In just two months since launching our product, we’ve rolled out several enhancements to Housemates Occupy - our business-focused, software-as-a-service tool for student accommodation bookings. In this blog, we’ll share how you can take bookings via Housemates directly from your website or other marketing channels.

In 2020, as we were working towards our goal of making student accommodation bookings a much easier process, for students and operators, we realised that one of the major difficulties for building managers is that bookings can come in from several different channels. Across phone, email, social media and other marketplaces - it’s quite hard to stay on top of it all. The time it takes to manage bookings from all these channels is not only frustrating for you and costly for your business, but it could create delays for students which cause them to go elsewhere. It shouldn’t have to be this difficult - so we built a solution. 

Housemates Occupy allows operators to easily take bookings with ordinary URL links which can be used on websites, social media, paid advertising - or anywhere else. It can even be converted into a QR code for use on physical marketing materials. The choice is yours.

Take student bookings on your website with Housemates

Better still, all bookings come with a reservation payment, which you are able to set in advance. The payment will be held by our payment provider for a 14-day cooling-off period, where the student has the right to cancel, and will then be deposited directly into your nominated bank account. If you use separate bank accounts for each building, city or country where you operate, you can also set this in advance. 

By plugging Housemates directly into your website and other channels, all bookings, including those from our free-to-list student marketplace which is included with Housemates Occupy, will be available in the Housemates dashboard. You can even add external bookings from other sources. All of this saves you the time-consuming burden of reconciling payments or keeping spreadsheets updated, whilst also providing your student tenants with a quick, easy and secure service which they have come to expect from their favourite online brands, such as Deliveroo and ASOS. 

All links are branded to your business and you will be provided with a unique link for each building which is live and available to take bookings. For example, if your business was called Hippo Students and your building was called Housemates House, the branded link for that building would be hippo-students.housemates.io/book/housemates-house.

Having a link for each building allows you to use the relevant one when referencing a particular building across your website, social media posts or other advertising channels. For example, you can include a “Book now” button against each separate building on your site, giving your students a better booking journey which increases conversion. Being an ordinary website link makes these easy to add with website tools such as WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, or bespoke sites.

To find your Housemates booking link, head to the Housemates Occupy dashboard, go to the “Properties” section and click on the relevant building. From there, you will be able to find the full details of the chosen building, including the link which you can copy and paste anywhere you like.

To learn more about what Housemates can do for your business, check out our business page and book a free demo call. 

The Housemates Blog

Introducing a new way to manage your properties with Occupy

How we designed Housemates Occupy

Report: Student Accommodation Demand Survey 2021/22

Introducing: The Housemates Marketplace API

Our letter to Government: Increase support for students and accommodation providers impacted by Covid-19

Take student bookings on your website with Housemates