UniAcco, the most preferred accommodation platform among students, has so far assisted more than 30,000 students in finding their ideal student accommodation in the UK. We make use of innovative tools and data science to help students identify and secure their accommodation. Our efforts are paying off as we recently won the coveted title of “Best Cross-Border Student Housing Provider 2020” at the 4th annual Greater London Enterprise Awards, hosted by SME News. In order to show the world that UniAcco not only talks the talk but also walks the walk, we’ve started a new blog series called “UniAcco Case Studies”.
One of our most experienced property consultants, Hally, is out with yet another case study. This time it’s about how she helped a student save hundreds of pounds by providing him with UniAcco’s flexible check-in dates.
Overview
Hally, one of UniAcco’s most experienced property consultants, was in charge of this case. She now holds the position of Assistant Manager at UniAcco and is responsible for assisting hundreds of students with their accommodation needs. This particular case study shows how Hally helped a postgraduate student from the University of Glasgow to postpone his lease agreement because of a multitude of reasons.
Case Scenario
The student was drawn to UniAcco because of our flexible check-in dates policy. This student learned first hand that we practice what we preach. Because of the student’s visa problems, uncertainty about moving to the UK and the UK’s travel restrictions, the student needed to know his accommodation provider could cope with all this uncertainty regarding his check-in date.
Challenges
The challenge was to ensure the student found a property that allows flexible check-ins. Most properties allow flexible check-ins up to certain weeks. However, in this case, it ran up to several months. Also, the student was on a tight budget, which made it even more challenging to find him his perfect student accommodation close to the Glasgow city centre.
Approach
The student was pursuing his postgraduate studies in Museum Studies at the University of Glasgow. As in the case of most international students, he was on a tight budget and hoped to get a student accommodation close to his university. By booking an accommodation close to a university, it essentially cuts down the travelling expense of a student. With UniAcco being the leading accommodation provider that has properties close to universities, the student had high expectations from us.
When the student was assigned to Hally, he explained to her his dicey situation. He confessed that he wasn’t sure about his move-in date and that his visa application ran into some problems. That being said, he was committed to booking his accommodation as soon as possible, even if it meant paying for it despite not moving in yet.
To make matters worse, the UK’s travel restrictions threw in even more uncertainty to the student’s move-in date. But all this uncertainty and conjecture didn’t hinder Hally from doing her job. She shortlisted a couple of properties near the University of Glasgow and showed it to the student. Once the student chose his preferred accommodation options, Hally immediately started making calls to the properties and explained to them the predicament of the student. Finally, a contract (with a flexible check-in clause) was drawn that allowed the student to move-in in November. But due to the UK’s travel restrictions, this wasn’t possible. After some time had passed, the student decided to check-in only in January, as that was the time his university allowed students on campus. Hally immediately called up the property and activated the flexible check-in clause to January. This saved the student hundreds of pounds on rent that would’ve been paid for the months of November and December.
The student was impressed by Hally’s prompt actions and the care shown towards him throughout the booking process.
Result
With his visa in place and clear instructions from his university, the student is now looking forward to flying to his brand new accommodation in Glasgow – Buchanan View. Only time will tell if he uses the saved up rent for November and December to party or study!
