Tapping the growing opportunities and demand in the student housing segment in India, Singapore-based OxfordCaps is planning to expand its presence in different cities of the country, including Indore, Pune and Bengaluru.
Presently, OxfordCaps offers premium student housing facilities for top universities in Singapore, including National University of Singapore, Singapore Management University and INSEAD Business School and others. In India, it is offering ready-to-move-in student accommodation in Delhi-NCR region and Dehradun.
The company has expansion plans in Chennai, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Coimbatore.
Priyanka Gera, OxfordCaps Founder and COO, said, “Keeping in mind the price-sensitive Indian students and their parents, we will be launching a new vertical – OxfordCaps Dorms by May 2019. There is a big section of the market which falls in the bracket of Rs 8,000-10,000 room rent per month, which we shall target and cater to without compromising on the quality of the living experience.”
There are approximately 34 million students in higher education institutions and these students relocate to a different city for higher education. However, only 10 per cent of these students manage to get accommodation provided by the university, stated a 2018 report of Jones Lang La Salle (JLL).
The unmet demand for student housing remains as high as 30–60 per cent across the top Indian states, as per the report. The students are then forced to choose from options like PGs, apartments, etc.
Annu Talreja, OxfordCaps Founder and CEO said, “In India, the concept of student housing is still at a formative stage. However, since the last year, the market has been warming up to the whole idea and witnessing the growing scope of this as an important asset class.”
“Before the beginning of the new academic session, we aim to have our properties in the prominent education hubs across seven more cities of the country with a target to acquire more than 10,000 beds,” she added.
