Maximising student returns through a flexible hybrid model
Orka is building a portfolio of purpose-built student accommodation across UK university cities. Layering short-term rental expertise on top of long-term student lettings turns summer vacancy and structural voids into a second revenue line, without disrupting the core student proposition.
- Sector
- Student Accommodation
- Market
- UK & Europe
- Service model
- Hybrid
- Delivered by
- Hospiria
Executive summary
Orka, a UK and European operational real estate investor, is rapidly building a portfolio of purpose-built student accommodation and hospitality assets. To unlock the full revenue potential of its PBSA beds, Orka needed an operating partner who could combine institutional-grade standards with genuine flexibility around length of stay and guest profile.
By layering short-term rental expertise on top of Orka’s long-term student lettings, especially across summer periods and structural vacancies, UnderTheDoormat Group enables a hybrid operating model that increases occupancy, strengthens income resilience and gives students more flexibility in how they live.
Founded in 2019, Orka has grown quickly by partnering with leading institutional investors in joint ventures across the UK and Europe. The firm has around 1,800 beds under management and is actively aggregating PBSA assets, particularly in key UK university cities.
Strong fundamentals, but value left on the table
PBSA in the UK is underpinned by a growing student population, constrained supply in key university cities and attractive, inflation-resilient income. The traditional operating model still leaves value unrealised.
Three dynamics mattered most. Seasonal utilisation gaps, where beds are fully let in term time but underused over summer. Structural vacancy, where units sit empty during parts of the academic year despite strong underlying demand. And evolving student expectations, as students increasingly seek flexibility around how long they stay and how they combine study, travel and work.
The ability to work with UnderTheDoormat Group and plug the gap, particularly for summer lettings where we still see strong demand for short-term rentals, allows us to maximise the potential of the asset.
One integrated revenue engine across the year
UnderTheDoormat Group partners with Orka as a specialist short-term and flexible-stay operator, plugging in alongside the core student-letting strategy rather than replacing it. Orka’s PBSA assets were onboarded rapidly through Hospiria.
Both teams aligned on asset strategy and demand patterns city by city, configured routes to market that serve student and non-student guests where appropriate, and put processes in place to preserve the core student experience while adding short-stay flexibility around it.
Our shared commitment to innovation and flexibility means we are not just solving today’s challenges, we are shaping the future of student accommodation.
Yield on beds that would otherwise sit empty
The partnership gives Orka reach to a broader demand base across platforms and sales channels, yield on beds that would otherwise be unoccupied, and a more flexible living proposition for students that reflects how the PBSA sector is evolving.
What made it work
Genuine operational flexibility
Willingness to adapt to an evolving PBSA sector, and to test and refine solutions in partnership, including on guest mix, length of stay and how capacity is allocated between student and non-student demand.
Hybrid-model expertise
Comfortable operating at the intersection of hospitality and housing, which fits a strategy spanning PBSA and hospitality-style assets.
Speed and partnership mindset
Orka valued the speed with which Hospiria could onboard assets and start building sales traction, and the partner-like approach to solving problems together.
A platform for what comes next
Beyond PBSA, the same operating model extends to the hospitality assets Orka is expanding into.
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