In a market defined by retention, reputation, and rising operational costs, integrated resident engagement delivers tangible value: stronger renewal rates, fewer voids, improved reputation, paired with Opex savings from reduced energy consumption. But yet, just 54% of residents say they experience a strong sense of community where they live (BPF PBSA Report 2023).
PBSA has come a long way in the past decade, evolving from a “roof over your head” product to a sector where experience, wellbeing, and sustainability are increasingly intertwined. Yet community still has room for growth… that’s where resident engagement comes in. Resident Engagement features give students tools to connect authentically while operators gain measurable reductions in energy costs and stronger retention.
So, how can you utilise it to drive value and community?
What students are telling us.
Student preferences show why community isn’t one-size-fits-all. Research from Property Marketing Strategists highlights that 46% of students enjoy organising their own social activities, while 40% prefer events to be organised for them. This balance reflects a dual expectation: students value independence, but still appreciate structured opportunities to connect.
The Class Foundation’s European Student Living Monitor shows that organised events are the single biggest contributor to student happiness. Alongside this, shared bookable spaces, such as cafés, cinemas, or multipurpose rooms, play a major role in a resident’s likelihood to recommend their accommodation. In fact, a community networking app ranked 4th among services most likely to boost recommendations, just behind career support and counselling.
The stakes are high: almost 40% of students reported struggling with loneliness, which was found to have the greatest negative impact on their mental health (MHI5) compared to other stressors.
What’s clear is that students want connection, but on their own terms. In focus groups, residents have suggested technology should help them facilitate, communicate, and initiate their own informal gatherings, rather than enforce “top-down” social programmes.
This shift matters. For operators and asset managers, it means traditional approaches to community building, while still valuable, can be complemented with tools that support student-led interaction. So, what does this look like?
Where technology can bridge the gap.
At the Class Foundation’s recent Student Living UK event, resident apps were highlighted as a rising focus across the sector, increasingly recognised as essential infrastructure for both community engagement and operational efficiency.
Utopi’s Resident Engagement features, when integrated through Spaceflow, combine community-building tools, events, communication channels, interest sharing, directly alongside operational capabilities like live temperature data and ESG dashboards.
Residents gain a natural way to connect with peers, shape their own social experience, and feel part of a community. Operators see measurable operational benefits: reduced energy consumption, improved retention, stronger asset performance.
CRM Students saw £28,448 cost avoidance in just one heating season with a Utopi-led Resident Engagement programme.
Why? Because when community and efficiency are integrated, wellbeing stops being an abstract goal and starts delivering measurable ROI:
- Higher engagement leads to stronger renewal rates.
- Authentic communities generate referrals and reputation.
- Energy-use insights drive cost savings and ESG performance.
This alignment turns student wellbeing into an asset-wide advantage.
Student-led engagement meets operational intelligence.
Through Spaceflow integration, Utopi’s Resident Engagement features give residents control over how they connect. Students can engage with peers, organise or join events, and communicate through dedicated groups and channels. Shared and bookable spaces integrate directly, making it simple to reserve study areas, gyms, or social zones. Newsfeeds, polls, and announcements create a central hub for both formal and informal activity.
Utopi specific capabilities – live temperature data and gamification – layer directly into existing resident app infrastructure via API. You can keep your native app features while adding real-time environmental insights and behavioural engagement that reduce energy consumption. Students see how their actions impact costs and comfort. The data feeds operational dashboards while gamification turns sustainability into something residents actively participate in rather than passively accept.
By combining student-centric community features with operational intelligence, Utopi turns engagement into measurable outcomes: stronger retention, reduced energy costs, and enhanced efficiency, all while creating environments where students feel a true sense of community.
Why it matters for 2025 and beyond.
Connection drives wellbeing, satisfaction, and occupancy in PBSA. When combined with energy efficiency, the right resident engagement strategy doesn’t just enhance student experience – it creates community with commercial ROI.
The sector has an opportunity to align around what matters: building places where students belong while delivering operational efficiency and ESG outcomes at scale.
On October 16th, we’ll be taking the stage at Global Student Living’s Investor Summit in London! Will you be there too? Reach out and let’s connect over a coffee: marketing@utopi.co.uk