Lessons for property managers as AI gains traction in student housing

Interesting lessons are there now for property managers in Nigeria to learn from UK property market, where the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is gaining traction in the management of student accommodation.

Though student housing in Nigeria is not as developed as it is in the UK, there are so much developers like Student Accommd8 is doing across campuses, having supplied over 300 beds to that narrow market where returns are quite significant, according to Abayomi Onasanya.

Onasanya, the founder and chief executive officer of Student Accommod8, told BusinessDay in an interview that return on investment in student housing could be as high as 22 percent, unlike traditional residential building, where it is as low as 4-5 percent.

A major challenge of this segment of the residential market is management as the facilities could be quite a distance from one another. That is not the story of players in the UK market.

Propertywire, an online property platform, reports that VerbaFlo, a property manager, has deployed an AI platform which, it says, automates the company’s interactions with customers across voice, email, webchat, SMS.

For that reason, the company now powers 25 percent of all Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) beds in the UK, which is equal to 168,000 beds, showing signs that adoption of AI is gaining ground.

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“VerbaFlo’s AI helps property management teams work smarter by engaging tenants instantly across multiple communication channels in over 180 languages, reducing response times, and ensuring every bed is filled,” Propertywire noted.

Continuing, it said, “the platform now generates $100k in monthly revenue, with over $1.6 million in contracts signed, and is projected to cross the threshold of $1.5 million in annual revenue by December this year.”

VerbaFlo is on track to reach 40 percent PBSA market share by May 2026, as operators turn to automation to streamline and offset rising operational pressures.

Some properties are under-occupied at major universities, owing to rents that outpace those in the private sector. VerbaFlo has established a presence in five new European markets, including the Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, Austria, and Germany.

Going forward, the company plans to expand into build-to-rent, co-living, HMO, and universities.

However, the PBSA market is experiencing some headwinds in terms of occupancy, according to Sayantan Biswas, VerbaFlo’s chief executive and co-founder.

He added, “With the cost-of-living continuing to rise, room affordability is a real sticking point for students. It’s a leading factor in a behavioural change being felt across the sector.

“Operators can’t afford to miss a single lead or resident enquiry, at a time when speed, consistency and quality of service could be the point of difference that secures a booking or satisfies an enquiry.”

According to Cushman & Wakefield’s 2025 UK Student Accommodation Report, the city struggling the most is Sheffield, which has seen a 17.3 percent drop in demand.