Customer case - Studentbostäder i Norden AB

Studentbostäder i Norden AB (publ.) launched Avy-Tmpl’s tenant platform in December 2021. The company’s Swedish holdings comprise around 4,200 apartments, and they have an ongoing new production programme. The company has a strong presence not only in the Swedish market, but elsewhere in the Nordic region, and the roll-out of Avy-Tmpl’s tenant platform has also begun in Denmark.  

As a dedicated student housing company, high turnover rates and digital maturity are two facts of life. The customer group’s innate suitability meant a tenant platform and app were important, making it more enjoyable and easier for students to manage their affairs in the way they want. Equally important, however, was enhancing the internal process efficiency during the customer journey – a process that could otherwise be expensive, given the number of people moving in and out of the properties and the short residential periods.

“A digital tenant journey suits our target group and is the key to enhancing our operational efficiency and achieving the company’s financial goals”.

Samira Mchaiter, head of property management at Studentbostäder says; “A digital presence is an unequivocal goal for us. A digital tenant journey suits our target group and is the key to enhancing our operational efficiency and achieving the company’s financial goals. A high turnover, with many tenants moving in and out, and short residential periods are expensive and can also result in dissatisfaction if the processes become too complicated for the tenants. Our goals, through the tenant app, also include increasing customer satisfaction, generating a sense of security and community within properties, and doubling our tenants’ average residential period with us, in order to create greater continuity” .

High sign-up rate and automated information flow when moving in. With a 83% sign-up rate and an average of 11.4 logins per user to the tenant app per month, the digital customer journey has produced results. An automated information flow when the tenants move in, coupled with digital keys and access, are just two examples of the enhanced efficiency that makes a massive difference both to the company’s financial results and to the tenants’ opinion of the housing environment.

Samira continues, “We used to draft and send individual welcome emails to our tenants, with a variety of information for every new tenant. That might sound simple, but when you have a high turnover rate, it’s hugely time-consuming. Simply being able to trigger an automatic welcome email through the app, containing important information at the right time has saved us two weeks’ full-time work in the three months during the summer when we have most to do.”

Key management yields big savings. Digital key collection and access make an enormous difference to scalability and enhanced cost efficiency when it comes to key management. Key management via the tenant platform and app has enabled a reduction from 6 employees handling physical key access when moving 100 apartments, to 2 employees handling the same size job via the platform and app. Why? Because a digital approach allows several time-consuming stages in the process to be eliminated. From work on putting the keys to each apartment in their plastic folders to collecting the keys – which still requires the tenants to be on site to physically receive the actual tag, even when digital signatures are used – to the landlord and the tenant ensuring that everything works in each apartment. Not forgetting, of course, the ongoing management of locks and keys during the tenancy.   

Digital key management also eliminates the risk factors when tenant arrivals are delayed, such as when the student concierge has gone for the day and the new tenant consequently cannot move in until the following day or, in a worst-case scenario (over the weekend) until the following Monday.

Magnus Jägre, head of sustainability and innovation at Studentbostäder comments: “Physical key-based access takes a massive amount of time. In Jönköping, we had “old school” access, with physical keys or tags, and for 100 apartments, we needed 6 employees on site to ensure everything worked. In Karlstad, where we have digital key management and access through our tenant platform and app, we only needed two employees, and even if there were to be more apartments involved, two employees would still be enough because we’ve eliminated so many manual stages.”  

Other functionality that tenants like. The app’s housing services have also become a popular function whose use is increasing. Over 37% of tenants who download the app when they move in sign up for home insurance. That corresponds to an increase of 90% between Q2 and Q3 of this year alone.

“Offering secure, advantageous agreements, such as high quality, cheap home insurance for all tenants is important to the company from a sustainability and equality perspective, and it’s a service that the tenants appreciate,” says Magnus

Finally, there are two functions that have proved surprisingly popular in terms of usage levels, namely laundry booking and community. Magnus and Samira both note that engagement levels have increased enormously with a digital booking function for the laundry, due to the low threshold involved in tenants downloading the app and thereby avoiding having to go down to the laundry in person and book a slot manually. Over time, this is another digital function that may increase efficiency for the company, eliminating both bottlenecks and their management.

The community function is also popular with tenants and has become a way for Studentbostäder to maintain a presence, despite the nationwide dispersal of its property holding.

“We can see the enthusiasm, the people who get involved, and can identify things for to do for them in their area. It completely changes the way we can “get a foot in the door”. Students have told us that they are getting to know one another and talking about each other’s studies. And this is, after all, one of our goals – to build a sense of security in our properties through neighbourliness and community. Mental ill health is widespread amongst young people and if you don’t know anyone locally, then your neighbours are the closest people to hand. Not everyone makes new friends at college, so we’re delighted to be able to engage on this front too,” says Samira.

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