Understanding the student decision-making journey in PBSA
The student accommodation sector is more competitive than ever, and increasing costs and rising student expectations mean that focusing on location and pricing to fill beds is no longer enough.
Providers need to stand out, and to do that, you need to understand what’s driving student decisions – what they are looking for, how they make their choices and, crucial for long-term occupancy, why they stay.
In this blog, we’ll analyse StudentCrowd data to identify the trends, booking behaviours and student sentiment you need to be aware of to make your offer stand out in a crowded market.
All stats are drawn from the StudentCrowd Insight Tool unless otherwise stated, while all reviews and poll data are drawn from our student review platform.
The current student accommodation market
As student numbers rose by 400,000 from 2019-2022, the number of beds failed to keep pace. We saw the loss of 100,000 HMO beds while PBSA added just 103,000, leaving a considerable shortfall.
Today, PBSA is helping to close that gap: new beds coming to market and a marginal drop in participation rates in UK 18-year-olds mean student-to-bed ratios in PBSA have improved from 3.2:1 last February to 2.8:1 this year - but the disparity still exists.
Therefore, despite the improvement, we still have high demand and low supply, which, coupled with ongoing economic pressures, has driven rents upward. Last year also saw more incentives offered: by March and April, operators were already offering incentives almost double those of previous years and by May, they had tripled.
And while it’s typical for incentives to be increased prior to lowering rents, this raises the question of whether we’re seeing a new pattern emerging, that of students waiting for the deals they know are coming, leading to more late booking cycles or switching behaviours.
Regardless of whether it happens, the potential to lose a booking in this way emphasises how crucial the student decision journey is and the importance of fostering community from the first contact point.
So, what does the decision-making journey look like?
There are three core stages in a student's decision-making journey.
- Their intentions - what they want and expect when searching for accommodation.
- Their choices - how they compare options and make a final decision.
- Their experience - what makes them satisfied once they move in.
Understanding each phase will help you refine your strategies and ensure your residents become your biggest champions, rather than your biggest headache.
What drives student intentions?
Although it’s important to understand the current market conditions, what really matters to students is finding somewhere to live in a very specific micro-location within their budget.
Price is a major consideration - our data shows 25% of students search for properties with advertised rents of £140 or less – but they balance this with quality, so it’s not just about affordability, but value and convenience too. Parental input is also growing, related to funding and choice. While students may overlook factors such as The National Code accreditation, these influence parents’ views and thus play an increasing part in decision-making.
By understanding these priorities, operators can ensure their accommodation is attractive to students from the start.
How do students make choices?
After students have set their budgets, our data shows they shortlist accommodation based on:
- Price vs. Perceived Value: 27% of students put value for money as their top priority.
- Location: Proximity to campus, nightlife, city centre, and transport links is the priority for 24% of students.
- Amenities & Facilities: Access to additional spaces such as library/study spaces, cinemas, a gym or outdoor areas can be a deciding factor, especially if they also offer financial savings.
- Reviews & Peer Influence: Trust is vital, with 14% relying on student reviews before booking, trusting peer feedback and review scores over marketing materials.
- Safety and Security: Mainly a priority for international students, it’s still considered by 19% of students.
Interestingly, incentives, mentioned earlier in the context of the changing market, actually influence just 3% of students. Far more important is strong social proof to help students answer questions such as “Can I see my lifestyle being achieved at my budget in this accommodation?” or “Can I see myself in the people that have lived here before me?” with a resounding “Yes!”
Matching expectations with reality
Once students move in, their experience (and whether this matches their expectations) defines their assessment of value for money - the factor that we already know is the top priority for almost a third of students and therefore crucial for recommendations and rebookings.
Service levels and staff interactions have the greatest influence on experience, with 30% of students highlighting them as defining factors. Indeed, community and belonging as a whole are important: as tighter budgets restrict students’ opportunities for socialising, an Eword survey found 40% of students make most friends in their accommodation, making events and social spaces key to enhancing satisfaction.
Responsiveness is another critical point; unresolved issues are common in negative reviews, and 11% of students link the speed of response directly to their value score.
By this stage, only 10% of students say cost impacts their experience, reinforcing that service and support are what drive satisfaction, retention, and those all-important positive reviews.
4 steps to creating a competitive edge in PBSA
Setting your offer apart is rarely about one big change. Rather, it’s about combining simple strategies to deliver marginal gains.
Leveraging live data
Monitoring pricing, incentives and sentiment allows you to adjust your strategy in real time. Think about who your property best suits and whether your pricing reflects demand in the local market. And use the data to refine your approach continuously – identifying repetition and themes can help shape your next strategy.
Highlighting differentials that matter
Don’t just add amenities to tick a box, add real value in ways that students want. This may be facilities, but we already know that other elements, such as maintenance response times and a sense of community, are important to students. Look at how you can make small improvements by enhancing communication or building morale within teams, so their daily interactions with students are more enthusiastic.
Strengthening online presence
Student reviews are the single easiest and most impactful way of enhancing your digital estate. Students want real, relatable voices rather than polished sales talk, and aligning your marketing with lived experience builds credibility and trust.
Responding in real time
One private operator we work with increased their review score from 4.3 to 4.5 stars and saw a 35x ROI on their marketing spend simply by prioritising feedback and engagement. And whilst the ROI is being delivered immediately, the increase in the review rating lasts, continuing to influence the next set of decision makers. More reviews = higher rankings = more clicks = more bookings.
Building long-term success
Success in PBSA isn’t about ticking boxes, it’s about resonating with students at every stage of their journey: understanding what they prioritise, why they choose and how they experience their stay. The most effective operators address all three phases, delivering value and building community with small, consistent actions that combine to make a big impact.
