An exploration of off-campus private student housing in Praygaraj, India

What is it about?

Student housing crisis is aggravating in Indian Higher Educational Institutions. While private educational institutions have resolved their student housing needs with the private sector participation (PPP) by constructing Purposely Built Student Accommodation (PBSA), public universities are still in a state of indecision. By using exploratory mixed methods this study presents the investigation of the existing situation of private off-campus student accommodation at the University of Allahabad (UoA) in Prayagraj city. We collected a total of 721 responses from an online semi-structured questionnaire , in addition to 12 interviews. Results of the study reveals poor quality of off-campus housing in general, comparative higher rents paid by girls, expensive rents in the proximity of UoA (based on Moarn’s I and LISA analysis results) , and lack of legal rental agreements. While Purposely Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) is trivial in the Prayagraj city, the study observed a slipshod attitude of that university administration and municipal corporation towards student housing. Adding to this, the new Rental Housing Policy and Urban Premises Tenancy Ordinance are highly promising in easing the glitches of student housing. However, suggestion is to formulate a win-win strategy to brainstorm over innovative solutions with PPP and social economy solutions woven with Need Based Rental Housing (NBRH), rekindled as the Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs) after COVID-19 pandemic.

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