Insight Media and Industry Partners with Waseem Carrim, CEO, NSFAS, will host the 7th Annual Affordable Student Housing Summit on 30 – 31 October 2025. It will take place at the Maslow Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg. This pivotal event is aimed at tackling one of South Africa’s most pressing educational challenges: the shortage of affordable, quality student housing.
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With the current supply gap estimated at over 500,000 beds, and tertiary education enrolment steadily rising, the urgency to address this housing shortfall has never been greater.
The CEO of NSFAS Waseem Carrim, addresses NSFAS’ plans for student housing. NSFAS is actively addressing the ongoing student housing crisis through its strategic plan, “Breaking the Gridlock: Fixing NSFAS Accommodation Funding Together.” This initiative aims to reform and streamline student accommodation funding by collaborating with key stakeholders, improving verification processes, and ensuring timely payments to housing providers. Sivuyile Tshiwula, Acting Senior Manager for Student Accommodation at NSFAS, will emphasize on the urgency of creating a more efficient, transparent, and student-centered housing system. He will highlight that solving the accommodation bottleneck is essential not just for student welfare, but for academic success and institutional stability.
This year’s summit will delve into the essential role that well-designed, secure, and sustainable student accommodation plays in ensuring academic success and student wellbeing. Over the course of two days, the event will serve as a platform for meaningful engagement among a broad spectrum of stakeholders. These include representatives from government, universities, TVET colleges, private student housing operators, developers, architects, construction firms, investors, development finance institutions, and prop tech companies.
Expert panels
Discussions will focus on key issues such as policy certainty, accreditation standards, grading systems, housing design innovations, financing models, ESG principles, and the impact of emerging technologies. Expert panels will offer insight into how these factors influence the sector and what collaborative steps can be taken to close the growing housing gap.
In a high-interest rate environment, student accommodation continues to attract investor attention due to its reliable demand. Savvy developers have responded by offering a range of housing options at different price points to meet diverse student needs. The summit will highlight these developments, while also examining how demographic changes and the expectations of a new generation of students—particularly around safety, smart technology, and sustainability—are reshaping the landscape of student housing.
Now in its seventh year, the Affordable Student Housing Summit has become a critical convening point for dialogue and innovation. It will continue to bring together higher education institutions, private developers, investors, and other key role players to collaboratively explore the future of affordable student accommodation in South Africa.
View the Affordable Student Housing Summit programme here.
Register for the Affordable Student Housing Summit here.
The summit will address these key issues
- Keynote address: NSFAS’ plans for student housing
- The impact of recent developments at NSFAS on student housing
- The limitations of student accommodation accreditation and grading system and the Future of accreditation
- How are student accommodation accreditations conducted elsewhere in the world?
- What proportion of student housing is now directly paid by NSFAS?
- What are the opportunities and challenges for student housing in Africa?
- Highlighting the gaps and limitations of the current accreditation system Think Tank: How can the current accreditation system be improved?
- Where are the main opportunities in Africa for student housing?
- How AI is affecting property operations and maintenance
- An overview of the student housing market in Africa
- Panel discussion: Universities’ objectives and strategies for student housing
- How can universities deliver modern, Fit-For-purpose Facilities, that prioritise student wellbeing?
- How can technology help to improve the student experience and what innovations are universities implementing or considering?
- What do constraints on university budgets mean for the delivery of affordable student housing?
- What kind of partnership opportunities are there between universities, private sector operators and investors to deliver best-in-class student housing at an affordable price?
- Embracing sustainable materials and green building practices in the design and delivery of student housing
- Where is the drive for sustainable student accommodation coming from? What are the benefits of ‘green’ student accommodation?
- How much can operating costs be reduced by? How do we measure this?
- Identifying sustainable systems which can be incorporated into housing design, e.g., grey water systems, solar panels, etc. Universities’ objectives and strategies for student housing
- To what extent is it possible to retrofit sustainable elements into existing student accommodation?
- What are universities’ plans for student accommodation growth and management?
- Is it now more important than ever to incorporate sustainability from early in the design phase?
- Where will Funding For student housing in Africa come from?
- Do students put real value on sustainability and green buildings, or does it ultimately come down to price?
- How is the increasing demand for online education affecting the need for student accommodation
- What were the key transactions in the market over the past 12 months and what do these tell us about where the market is heading?
- How can communication and collaboration between private housing providers and universities be increased?
- What are universities’ preferences in terms of outsourcing vs. insourcing, shared vs. dedicated housing, off−campus vs. on−campus accommodation, provision of meals, etc.?
- How do universities determine the terms and length of leases? Why don’t universities pay service providers directly?
- How is the student housing sector adjusting to the increase in ESG requirements?
- How can universities and the private sector work together to deliver modern, fit for purpose facilities?
- What impact can smart technology have on operational efficiency and cost reduction?
- An address by the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA)
- Implementing Proptech to provide affordable student housing.
- How do investors view the student housing market?
- What other trends, e.g., a hybrid Form of higher education, are influencing the demand for student housing in Africa?
- What are the main barriers to developing a sustainable student housing market in Africa and how can they be overcome?
- Why is ESG now so important and how is it affecting investment decisions?
- How do investors view the student housing market in the long−term and where do they see the growth?
- Investors’ perspectives on the student housing market
- Developers’ and operators’ perspectives on the opportunities and challenges in the student housing market
- How can existing student housing stock be repurposed and modernised?
- The pros and cons of centralised accreditation
- How can universities deliver modern, fit-for-purpose facilities that prioritise student wellbeing and ESG?
- Where does student housing sit in terms of investment priorities in relation to other residential asset classes and other property sectors as a whole?
- Which universities are going to see the highest demand and which cities will require more supply?
- How are architects and developers designing and building student housing that meet today’s requirements?
- Technology, innovation, and AI: what are the implications for the operation and management of student housing?
- How is the student housing sector embracing new technology?
- What different technology and applications are available?
- How can existing processes be made more efficient and costs reduced using technology and AI?
- etc
Who should attend
- Universities
- Colleges
- Investors
- Student Housing Companies
- Property Developer
- Senior Architectural Technologist (Associate)
- Market Researchers
- Architecture Companies
- Banks
- Housing Finance Companies
- Building services-Architects, Quantity Surveyors etc
- Education sector service providers
- Technical and vocational colleges
- Construction companies
- Engineering Consulting Firms
- Student representatives
- Building materials and technologies firms
- Property Tech Firms
- Candidate Valuer
- Head of Procurement
- Business Unit Executive
- Portfolio Managers
- Property Managers
- Financial Directors
- Market Analyst and Gis Operator
- Campus Manager
- Student Financing bodies
- Bursary providers
- Development Finance institutions
- IT Companies
- Government Departments
- Metros and local municipalities
- Security companies
- Urban Planning
- Economic Development
- Infrastructure Developers
- Town Planners
- Etc
The sessions will bring together professionals from academics to developers, investors, property tech firms, banks, student housing companies, private property developers, and government to discuss innovative solutions opportunities, trends and issues currently impacting the student housing market in South Africa and Africa.
Registration for this programme is now open, to register email: info@insightmedia.co.za
