👋 Welcome back! 

From My Desk: Today marks day one of many of semester two in college for me and I’m almost running late so let’s get right into this week’s feature…

“Actively taking strides to bring the student voice to the forefront of the housing debate by pairing–driven insights with informed thought leadership”

– The Student Housing Initiative

🎬 Behind the Scenes

• Founders Julian Wells, Grace Murphy, and Jonathan Cook are students at the University of Victoria

• This initiative has been on the front burner since February 2023 

• Currently engaged on 7 projects to secure 2,434 units of new housing

🌍 Problem

TLDR: High living costs and a shortage in housing are hitting Canadian college students hard, forcing some to resort to sleeping in their cars

Since 2011, a combination of minimal construction, accelerating population growth, and government policies favoring homeownership has led to the average Canadian home doubling in value.

“[The] majority of institutions built no new student residence spaces during that 2014-15 to 2021-22 period.”

Where does this leave university students?
Well… sort of like trying to play musical chairs, without any chairs.

University students unable to snag dormitory spots or commute from home are thrown into the competitive rental arena. 

Plus, most students face a limited credit history and modest income which often makes renting a tough sell to landlords who are often faced with hundreds of applications for a unit.

🤖 Solution

The Student Housing Initiative bridges the gap between students and decision–makers that impact housing in Canada. 

Their focus lies in aggregating and presenting the student’s experience when it comes to housing, providing a window into their world–or more accurately into their packed, 4 person 1 bedroom apartments.

This is done through…

• Conducting surveys to understand housing needs, decision–making, and perspectives of students. 

• Drafting reports that analyze and share the survey findings with people in the real estate industry, policymakers, and institutions.

• Providing consulting and strategic advisory services to developers and government officials on how to better incorporate the student viewpoint into their projects.

📈 Catalysts

Taking a look at the team and their strengths in this field we see many…

• For Students, By Students: They have a first–hand understanding of housing issues impacting the student demographic
  

• Experience: The team has internship experience and involvement in projects and can speak to relevant industry knowledge
  

• Intentionality: No other organizations are focused on amplifying the student voice and perspective in the way that S.H.I is 

  • Others operating in this space tend to have a more investment–focused lens
    

• Network: Julian's founding of the Real Estate Club at the University of Victoria has markedly amplified the potential for establishing connections with student networks across multiple campuses

  • Also, closely connected with vital stakeholders for impactful change via the club and previous experiences

🛒 Current Market

After doing some digging there is only one other indirect competitor when it comes to the shortage in student housing specifically.

• UTILE (specializes in student housing throughout Quebec)

There seems to be a gap in the market of organizations that are focused on solving this problem specifically related to students. 

The Student Housing Initiative can fill this gap by providing first–hand insights to key players in the game of making this solution a reality.

🚀 Path Moving Forward

Looking into late 2024 the Student Housing Initiative has its eyes set on…

1. Expanding survey impact across Canada 

2. Creating more relationships with industry leaders

3. Potentially developing a student housing marketplace

💡Student‘preneuer’ Insights

A word from this week’s founder

“The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given is to be creative, be unique, and stand out. Don’t worry about making money right away. Prioritize building meaningful relationships and being the dumbest person in the room.

If you have a vision for an entrepreneurial project, don’t wait for long… just start building. That’s the hardest part, but if you just start doing it, it only gets easier from there.” – Julian Wells 

📫 Glad you stopped by, we hope you enjoyed it!

–Owen