7 Key Solutions Your Student Housing Portal Should Offer

Want to make it easier to manage residents in your college accommodation? A student housing portal can help. This technology automates various tasks, such as housing assignments, roommate matches, and payment processing. As a result, you can provide a more streamlined student experience. 

However, not all student housing portals are equal. Here are seven features your software should provide so you can get more value from this type of technology. 

1. Streamlined Search and Booking

The best student housing portals allow users to search for and book accommodation on your college campus, including rooms in residence halls. That removes the need for students to contact your housing department and talk to a member of your team. Because students complete housing tasks online, they can save time and find a place to live that matches their budget and lifestyle quickly. 

Student housing portals can also help users find roommate matches. For example, an incoming student can find someone to live with who has a similar interest to them, which can reduce some of the stress of moving onto campus for the first time. 

2. Secure Payment Processing

Housing portals can simplify financial transactions between students and your university housing team, allowing users to pay deposits, rent, and other charges electronically. That reduces the need for your housing team to manually collect payments from students at different points in the school year. 

Students can also use a portal to view housing contracts, which include information about rent due dates and when to pay a deposit. This feature can help users manage their finances and budget effectively, resulting in fewer missed payments that impact your bottom line.

3. Efficient Communication

Using a housing portal is one of the best ways to communicate with residents in student housing. For example, this technology might let you send text messages with important announcements to current residents or allow them to communicate with your housing department via live chat. If someone has a problem or maintenance requests, they can simply log into their portal and contact one of your team. 

Efficient communication is one of the most essential features of a housing portal because it improves transparency between students and your college. It also lets you solve issues in one place. Say someone wants to talk to your campus housing team about an issue with their roommates. Instead of traveling to your office or picking up the phone, they can quickly send a message with their concerns. 

4. Community Building Features

A modern student housing portal can help create a sense of community in your college housing. For instance, you can send students messages to check in on them and see how they are adapting to college life. Users can also message your housing team if they need support or guidance. Providing students with an immediate point of contact can help them settle into their accommodation and have a more successful campus experience. 

You can also track student satisfaction throughout the school year on a university student housing portal. By sending students surveys and questionnaires, you can further build a community and make improvements to your accommodation processes. The best portals let you send user surveys without using third-party apps.

5. Resource Center

If students have questions about their lease or any aspect of college housing, they can access resources in a portal. For example, you can upload documentation about housing updates, housing services, housing options, meal plans, student clubs and organizations, and local events in one place. That makes it easier for students to find the housing materials they need and have a better college experience. 

You might also want to answer frequently asked questions about housing for students in your portal so they don't have to contact your housing team.

6. Sustainability Features

Because housing portals reduce or replace paper documentation, these systems can be great for improving your environmental credentials. Instead of collecting information from students by hand or mail, you can request this data online and lower the amount of paper used in housing management. Users can fill out important information about roommate selections and housing preferences directly from a portal.

Many of the top portals allow students to sign a housing application and other documents electronically, which also reduces paper usage. No longer will a student have to print out a housing contract, sign it, and send it to your office. Instead, they can authorize paperwork with a few clicks. Housing.Cloud, for example, integrates with DocuSign, Adobe Sign, RightSignature, and other industry-leading e-signature services. 

7. Mobile-Friendly Design

Research shows that college students in the United States spend 8–10 hours a day on average on a smartphone. So, choosing a housing portal with a mobile-friendly design can make it easier for students to access information about your college accommodation on this type of device. 

You might want to invest in a portal compatible with smartphones and tablets that lets students access information without downloading an app, providing them with an enhanced browsing experience at all times. For example, they can send a maintenance request from their mobile before a class or check their lease when at a friend's house. 

Spend Less Time on Tech Work-Arounds and More Time Building Community

Housing portals handle many aspects of the housing process for students, freeing up time and reducing the housing timeline. The best tools don't require a steep learning curve. Choose a product that offers simplicity and a user-friendly interface so you can spend less time setting up this technology and more time building a community in your college accommodation. 

Housing.Cloud is the cloud-native platform purpose-built with today's technology that streamlines housing management for students and your college. It has a simple interface, application builder, and many other features that make it the go-to option for schools of all sizes. 

Looking for student housing solutions you can trust? Request a demo of Housing.Cloud now and sample its innovative and easy-to-use features.