A new online platform for students to search for and book accommodation has been launched, claiming to be “the fastest, simplest and most secure booking option” in the market. 

‘Housemates’ allows students to view and book secured accommodation, and allows operators to have their own branded pages. It will “increase conversions, lower operators’ costs and provide valuable insights on booking behaviour” according to a statement from the site creators.

Housemates also allows operators to manage bookings and availability and set rents and booking periods via a dashboard. 

The platform charges operators 20 per cent of the first month’s rent on a complete booking, with no extra fees or hidden costs. 

“This means the total fees are typically less than 2.0 per cent on successfully completed bookings compared with 3.5 to 20.0 per cent with other routes to market” it claims.

Operators and other accommodation providers on the platform can use it to take holding deposits and all of its financial processes all transactions through FCA-approved providers.  

The company is initially launching in the UK and Ireland “with thousands of units secured from multiple providers” and says it will expand further next year. 

Founder Lydia Jones comments: “We’re proud to have built a robust platform that will not only be time-efficient and ease anxiety for students but will also help eliminate legacy purpose built student accommodation operator issues such as poor conversion rates, expensive leads, difficult occupancy management, high workloads and dealing with outdated information.”