Zebra is a small specialist student housing provider. All we do is provide student housing in London. We compete with the private sector for tenants so our housing and services have to be competitively priced, our homes have to be of at least the standard of the private sector and have to be in locations that residents want to live in. We are therefore very mindful of the need to keep our costs low, to improve the value for money of our student accommodation and what we do, and to provide really good quality housing. We also believe that some of the less tangible things we do to make residents feel at home are very important but are part of providing value for money. We want all our stakeholders to know that value for money in its widest sense is central to our business plan and to understand the things we are doing to achieve this.
- To improve, insulate and decarbonise our student homes and make them more sustainable we will spend £300k pa for next the 4 years and then increase that to £500k pa in year 5 onwards
- We have spent £980k in the last 5 years on improving them
- We monitor the performance of each of our student residences to ensure that they are providing the best possible value to residents
- Our finance plan shows a continuing reduction in management costs as we develop and continuing strength
- We use our strong financial position both to improve our stock and provide new homes
- Our rents are set at between 65%-85% of the low end of the market
- We provide a subsidised “social programme”, open to all residents, providing access to a variety of cultural and sporting events which adds to residents’ appreciation of London, allows them to get to know their neighbours better and when they return to their home country can facilitate better international understanding and trade links
- Our in-house maintenance team is multi skilled and has excellent site knowledge; they carry out a wide range of different tasks, minimising the need for expensive callouts to specialists
- We look for value for money when we purchase parts, furniture, fittings, and spares
- We choose the best value contractors without compromising on the quality of the work
- We aim to use suppliers and contractors committed to reducing waste and using sustainable, environmentally friendly materials wherever possible
- We help our student residents to understand how to care for the properties and maintain their fixtures and fittings, to keep the need for maintenance attendances lower
- Our maintenance team will source as many materials as possible locally, thus reducing carbon footprints
- Our maintenance team uses public transportation to travel between sites
- We regularly survey our student residents to get feedback on satisfaction with services