SAPFI expands to include co-living sector, to be renamed Shared Accommodation Providers Forum of India

New Delhi, September 06, 2020: SAPFI has been the leading voice for the student accommodation industry since its launch in 2019. Over this time, we have published insightful industry-specific reports with knowledge partners including CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield. The forum has also submitted multiple representations to the Government of India on the National Urban Policy Framework, Model Tenancy Act 2019, and the New Education Policy, alongside policy notes to the GST Council, AICTE etc.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the student housing sector, it has created an enhanced focus for students and parents towards Professionally Managed Student Accommodation (PMSA) with a premium placed on safe and hygienic environments once institutions reopen. The pandemic has also led to the integration of the student housing and co-living industry as a business model for various operators to minimise the adverse impact.

With changing business models among members and a new focus of government policies, SAPFI is excited to announce its evolution from student housing to shared accommodation. While student housing will continue to be a key priority, the forum is now being expanded to include the Co-Living (CL) sector.

The complementarities and similarities between the two segments – CL and PMSA – in terms of growth opportunities and policy issues underpins this decision. The forum will retain the acronym which will now be expanded to read ‘Shared Accommodation Providers Forum of India’.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has served as a crisis as well as an opportunity for SAPFI and its members. The industry is reinventing business models, services etc. to adapt to the new normal. With this new avatar, SAPFI will have enhanced capabilities to helping create a favorable policy ecosystem as the leading voice for the shared accommodation industry in India,” said Kaushal Mahan, Convenor, SAPFI.

Rental housing has also emerged as a priority sector in government policies and initiatives. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs’ novel Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs) scheme, for instance, has piqued the interest of shared accommodation providers servicing students and working professionals.

Both models outlined within the scheme for the provision of affordable housing is appealing to the shared accommodation industry which is open to either constructing units through PPP arrangements or operating/maintaining existing facilities. With 72% of millennials willing to consider co-living arrangements and campus accommodation accounting for only 20% of student housing demand, prospective collaborations between PMSA or CL operators and the government will be a mutual win.

Corporate Comm India (CCI Newswire)