//METERING OUT CONTROL IN STUDENT ACCOMMODATION
Owning student accommodation can undoubtedly be a lucrative investment opportunity. Managing it, however, takes a very special kind of personality. Barely out of their teens and not known for their attention to detail or time, young adults can often neglect to pay their utilities. In a regular post-paid environment, this could quickly result in a very hefty backlog and even a long and fraught process to try to reclaim the costs from the students or their parents.
Another real challenge is collecting utility revenue in a shared accommodation environment. If not managed with transparency and trust, this can quickly become a hotbed of contention, and possibly result in protracted disputes.
“With Citiq Prepaid, students pay up front, or can be issued with vouchers to redeem on the system, thereby massively reducing revenue collection pain. For electricity, our prepaid sub-metering solution tracks per unit purchase patterns and raised red flags – such as tampering – while our water meters will signify water leaks should they occur,” explains Raymond Rorich, business development manager at Citiq Prepaid. “Solutions are sophisticated enough to allow per person measurement, which makes administration significantly easier. It effectively reduces the risks of what could be a very fraught environment.”
Other benefits include:
• An online system gives accommodation managers remote
access to usage and transaction data and reports.
• Primary reports are automatically emailed every month,
easing the administration burden.
•The meters are easy to install.
• There are no hidden fees: no connection fees, no monthly
fixed fees, and no switching fees.
• Students never spend more than what they, or their parents, have budgeted for, and in cases where accommodation packages include electricity and water, management can be sure consumption is managed.
Finally, although choosing Citiq Prepaid as the prepaid utility vendor for a new development should be the obvious choice, existing shared accommodation has not been forgotten. Should a development already have a sub-metering solution and would like to have access to the Citiq Prepaid benefits, they can easily switch.
For more info on Citiq Prepaid, visit www.citiqprepaid.co.za.
PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA ACKNOWLEDGED THE STUDENT ACCOMMODATION CRISIS IN HIS RECENT 2020 STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS. WITH A PRIVATE INVESTMENT OF R64 BILLION TO MATCH THE GOVERNMENT SPEND OF THE SAME AMOUNT, WE CAN EXPECT A NUMBER OF NEW DEVELOPMENTS, IN ADDITION TO CONVERSIONS OF PROPERTIES NEAR CAMPUSES. AND FOR THE OWNERS AND MANAGERS OF THESE DEVELOPMENTS, KEEPING THE LIGHTS ON COULD BE MADE INFINITELY LESS PAINFUL WITH THE INSTALLATION OF PREPAID SUB-METERS.