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Student relocations in India currently number 11 million, and is projected to reach 31 million by 2036, opening up a significant opportunity for the student housing sector, which is an emerging asset class, according to Colliers India.
Until recently, the sector was unorganised and unregulated, despite thousands of students migrating to metro cities each year to pursue higher education. Moreover, poor conditions in campus hostels and PG homes, along with spiking rentals, stepped up the demand for quality student housing across the country, especially in education hubs with a high footfall of students each year, the report noted.
Student bed availability at on-campus accommodations stands at 7.5 million, indicating the demand-supply gap and potential for growth.
“A shared space with excellent amenities, the same age-group community, convenience in commute, and assistance in day-to-day activities are the requirements of our young generation. Pre-pandemic, many start-ups ventured into the purpose-built student accommodation sector, and few survived to become seasoned players with large portfolios across the country,” says Swapnil Anil, Executive Director and Head, Advisory Services, Colliers India.
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Currently, a few players have a growing presence in the country, such as Stanza Living, with 70,000 beds across Dehradun, Vadodara, Indore, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Kota, Ahmedabad, Manipal, Kochi, Vadodara, Vidyanagar, and Nagpur.
Housr Co-Living has a presence in Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Pune, Bengaluru, and Visakhapatnam, with plans to expand in Delhi and Kota by the end of the financial year.
Another leading operator, Your Space, has 5,500 beds across Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune and aims to have a20,000 beds by 2024 in prominent education hubs like Jaipur, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kota, and Kolkata. Finally, Olive Living, managed by Embassy Group, has 2,500 beds and looks to add 20,000 over the next few years.
Post the pandemic, student housing rentals have risen steadily by 10–15 per cent year-on-year, reaffirming the scaling demand. Furthermore, with student enrolment in higher education projected to cross 92 million by 2036, there are untapped opportunities for investors and developers and tremendous scope for the sector’s growth, the report says. It is likely that the market will see the emergence of new players and perhaps even global investors.
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