3 startups helping international students find accommodation in India

10 Oct 2018

So you’ve got your university offer and you’re ready for your study abroad adventure in India – but have you got your accommodation sorted?

Finding student accommodation is somewhat chaotic, with 34 million students enrolling in higher learning institutes across India, 45,424 of whom come from overseas.

Only 18 to 20 percent of students find accommodation through university provisions, according to a report by real estate research firm JLL. So where do the other students go?

International students have the added challenge of not being able to view accommodation before arriving for their studies, as well as language barriers with landlords and a dire need to find somewhere to live.

Situations like this have led to exploitation of the international student community in Australia and Ireland recently, as they are forced to settle for unsafe and sometimes illegal housing to continue with their studies.

International students heading to India have been thrown a lifeline by a bubble of start-ups that have emerged to help new students find accommodation from private providers, without having to deal with the middleman themselves.

Stanza Living

Designed to bring the quality of London’s student housing market to India and promote wellbeing, academic success and social opportunities, Anindya Dutta and Sandeep Dalmia created Stanza Living to redefine India’s student housing market.

https://twitter.com/stanza_living/status/1004359946882859008

Always with students in mind, the start-up aggregates and leases properties from owners, and then redesigns them to fit student needs, including food, Wi-Fi, laundry, security, and more. This reassures students that they will have everything they will need in their Stanza Living accommodation, rather than having to worry about being somewhere unsafe or unhygienic.

Residences can vary in size from 40 and 500 people, meaning there is something to suit everyone’s needs.

Studentacco

Studentacco allows learners to compare different student accommodation options in India based on filters that matter to them. This gives international students a comprehensive list of the different accommodation options available where they are studying, rather than walking blindly when looking for a house.

We solve the student accommodation crossword for you. 8882-356-356 #Hostel4All pic.twitter.com/ojn3YlSqiU

— Studentacco (@studentacco2015) July 18, 2017

In 2016, the start-up claimed to advertise over 14,000 student beds across Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon and Faridabad, making it an invaluable resource for international students going to India.

Students can rest assured that accommodation found through Studentacco will be a clean, spacious, standardised and fully-furnished alternative to oversubscribed campus accommodation, rather than taking a risk with potentially unsatisfactory private rooms they’re unable to view before sending their deposit.

Your Space

Your Space is helping young people in India find safe accommodation in hostels, allowing students who don’t want to commit to paying rent a safe alternative to private housing.

The company currently operates in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Pune, Noida and Greater Noida, offering 1,200 beds in 11 hostels.

Relax after a hard day at the most comfortable accomodation in town at Your-Space,a premium living space for girls! pic.twitter.com/FNLxI3wB0R

— Your Space (@yourspace_in) August 28, 2016

Your Space is not only offering beds in hostels, but is also trying to redefine the hostel experience to ensure students in India are getting the best possible experience. This means the company chooses hostels that are safe and secure, have sufficient facilities to ensure students are properly accommodated during their stay, and places that have a strong sense of community.

This is particularly exciting for international students looking to make friends, as they will be part of a hostel community with many other students also away from home. Here, they can mix with people from a whole range of backgrounds both within India and beyond.