Forum to focus on quality, secure accommodation for students

To advocate and work towards providing quality and secure accommodation to students in the country, a forum that includes leading student rental housing service providers was launched Thursday. The Student Accommodation Providers Forum of India (SAPFI) includes leading student rental housing service providers such as Stanza Living, CoHo, Placio, Renaissance Living Spaces, TribeStays, Campus Student Living Community and YourSpace among its core members.

It is also supported by leading entities across real estate, legal and public policy domain including CBRE, Cushman and Wakefield, Ikagai Law and Chase India, who will collaborate as associate members of the forum. According to a recent report by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, there were over 36 million students across higher education institutions in India in 2017-18.

The forum sees potential for robust growth in this sector, not just in large cities but also across higher education hubs in smaller cities across the country. "To ensure that we are able to realise this potential, SAPFI will work with the government to develop a policy framework that provides regulatory clarity and lays down standards and guidelines to formalise the segment," Kaushal Mahan, convener, SAPFI, said.

The forum also announced that it would partner with CBRE, the leading commercial real estate services and investment firm, to prepare and release by mid-year an industry report that will clarify the approach towards unlocking the potential for the growth of the student accommodation segment in the country.