Student rental platform adds 45,000 properties before new term

Housr, a student living start-up, says it’s started its second year by adding 45,000 properties to its platform ahead of the September 2024 start of the new academic year.

The Manchester-based PropTech business, which claims to streamline the process of finding a student property, has filled its platform with 45,000 properties across Manchester and Birmingham, from 30 different letting agents, making the rental process easy for tenants and landlords. 

Housr claims it is connecting 360 students per agent, per day, through its platform.

In the past two weeks, the platform has had 40,000 interactions, a 35 per cent increase in app downloads, and is on track to have 30,000 users by January 2024. 

The smartphone app, available on iOS, sees 1,000 student likes per day, an average of 12 per student per session, through its Tinder-style functionality. The start-up has developed a loyal community of students who are rewarded with perks including money off their rent, a year’s supply of free pizza, and offers on drinks.

The student living platform encompasses rental properties, household utilities and lifestyle perks within the one app, allowing students to find a home, flatmate, simplify the associated admin that comes with renting, and earn money back on their rent. Through answering questions and sharing their lifestyle data, Housr is rewarding cash-strapped students.

Housr currently operates in two UK cities – Manchester and Birmingham – with plans to expand into six cities next year. The start-up currently has a team of 28 employees and is recruiting further with open roles in operations and marketing. The tech business is gearing up to complete its next funding round with 25% of the round already committed.

Harry Panter, co-founder of Housr, says: “Year two has got off to a flying start and we’re setting and beating new records each month. The platform is bursting with new properties for UK students. We have created a commercial model where agents have zero fiscal risk of adoption – we pay them to rent their homes! We’re well on the way to establishing our vision of simplifying student rental, and this model can be adapted by the sector more broadly to tackle the affordability and availability crises.

“You can order an Uber in three clicks and be anywhere in the country, so why can’t you move to a new city and in three clicks rent a home? Renting a home should be as easy as ordering an Uber, and with our technology it is.

“We have a clear growth strategy and plan on serving students in six cities next year. We have already made good headway on the expansion with an acquisition of a student community in a major northern UK city, and some significant new hires.”

To date, Housr has raised £1.2 million and has opened a waiting list for investors to learn more about its next £5m growth funding round. 

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