University Cribs, the student property search engine, is expanding to list accommodation in the London market.
The firm has so far signed up a number of letting agents, developers and private halls of residence, and lists more than 120,000 rooms.
As the UK fights to maintain its appeal to overseas students post-Brexit, digital tools can help ease students into universities.
Estimates show that applications from EU students for the 2017-18 academic year may be down as far as 7%, while tougher immigration laws are also affecting application numbers from non-EU overseas students.
The move into London is a significant development towards the company’s ambition of becoming the UK’s first dedicated property search engine for student housing.
UK student accommodation providers CRM Students and Homes for Students have adopted University Cribs and will use it to promote available rooms and reach new audiences.
As of March, University Cribs has recorded more than 275,000 site visitors and 1m page views. Some 9.6% of users make a formal enquiry to the agent via the platform.
A total of 156 agents have signed up with University Cribs. An average of 10,000 properties per month are added to the site and the company is active in 25 university towns in England and Wales.
Jack Jenkins, co-founder of University Cribs, said: “University Cribs’ rapid growth has led to a high level of adoption and we are moving towards becoming the ‘go-to’ for anyone looking for student accommodation, anywhere in the UK. By partnering with providers such as CRM Students and Homes for Students, quality accommodation is available at the touch of a button.”
Polina Skrebneva, marketing manager, CRM Students, said: “We are always looking for opportunities to promote our range of student accommodation and achieve higher engagement with students. We are excited to be working with University Cribs to help us achieve exactly this.”
Kate Forester, sales and marketing director, Homes for Students, said: “The journey to finding the perfect student accommodation can be a stressful and arduous task. With University Cribs, finding, shortlisting and sharing favourite properties couldn’t be easier and the ability to make direct enquiries to Homes for Students further eases the process.”
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