Student accommodation
Bed (PBSA)
In student accommodation, the bed is the unit a building is measured in: "a 400-bed residence" means it houses 400 residents, whether in singles, doubles, studios or shared flats. Supply, occupancy, income and costs are all counted in beds.
Also known asbedspace · bed space · cama
Why it is counted in beds
Housing is counted in flats, and hotels in rooms. In student accommodation the unit is the person, because each resident signs their own contract even if they share a room or a flat. A six-bedroom cluster flat is six beds, and a double room is two. That is why the sector's figures, from a city's supply to the size of a portfolio or the occupancy rate, are given in beds.
In the United Kingdom people talk about beds or bedspaces, and it is common to compare a city's beds with its full-time students to estimate how much supply is missing. In Spain the investment sector has adopted the same unit, while colegios mayores (Spanish halls of residence with a formative programme) talk about places. The number may be the same, but the words do not mean the same thing: a "place" comes with an admission and an academic year behind it, and a "bed" with a contract.
Worth knowing
A bed is not a place available all year round. If the contract is for the academic year, the bed is paid for during the weeks of the contract and stands empty for the rest, unless it is filled with summer stays. Counting beds without counting contract weeks gives the wrong idea of what a building earns, and of how much work it takes: the summer of a residence full of groups is nothing like that of a residence that has shut.
Sources
Related terms
- PBSAPBSA (purpose-built student accommodation) is a student residence built or refurbished for that use and run by a private operator, with rooms or studios, shared areas and services. The term comes from the British market, and in Spain it is used mainly by investors and operators.
- Occupancy rateThe occupancy rate is the share of a residence's beds that are occupied or committed at a given moment or over a period. It is the first figure anyone looks at in a student building, because income depends on it, and so does almost everything calculated afterwards.