Those moving out of their homes to pursue higher education in the National Capital Region (NCR) no longer need to agonise over finding a place to stay. Placio, a new start-up, has begun offering pocket-friendly accommodation for outstation students.
Finding good accommodation is one of the most challenging tasks for outstation students, who battle not only an unfamiliar environment, but are also bogged down by safety and security concerns. All these factors that to the inception of Placio, a student housing start-up.
Ankush Arora, a co-founder and Director of the start-up, told BusinessLine how the start-up works. “First, we identify the higher education institutes in an area, the potential of in-campus student housing, and the number of students looking for accommodation,” he said. “After this is the next step which is to identify the right kind of buildings that we curate, and then start operating those to deliver the right kind of consumer experience”.
Placio, which means a beautiful place for living, is incubated by Amity University, and was launched in 2016. However, the housing start-up became operational in May 2017. Currently, 800-odd students are staying in its properties. Amity also has taken over equity in the company.
Facilities
The prices for rooms start from ₹7,000 and go up to ₹25,000 per month. The rooms are available on single, double as well as triple occupancy, and offer facilities such as food, laundry, play station and book-exchange library.
“There is a 24x7 emergency helpline for parents in case they are unable to reach their children,” said Arora.
A report by global real estate firm JLL says that since 2010, there has been 67 per cent rise in the student population, and a 29 per cent increase in the number of universities.
Arhita Uppal, who is pursuing dental studies at Amity University, said: “There are many accommodations available but the rooms are really congested. The rooms here are not only spacious but everything is taken care of by the management.”
By 2018, Placio is set to be operational in areas close to Delhi University and Laxmi Nagar, a hub for CA aspirants. It also soon plans to expand to tier II cities such as Indore and Lucknow.