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PBSA

One platform.
Every revenue stream accounted for.

Lavanda unifies long-stay leasing, nomination agreements and short-stay demand in one platform. Operators are able to run a higher-yielding portfolio, and investors can see what every asset is generating, in every season.

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Trusted by Europe's leading PBSA operators.

The challenge

Every void is a question your investor will eventually ask.

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European PBSA runs on an academic calendar that investors underwrite in advance and operators live through in real time. High-volume move-ins in September, is swiftly followed by the need to mitigate voids and optimise revenues throughout semesters one and two. Block bookings and nomination agreements add a further layer of administrative complexity. Retaining a single view of occupancy and revenue across the building, whilst coordinating both direct and indirect bookings throughout the year, is a major challenge.

The operators and investors who get ahead of this don't treat a void as a failure. They treat it as inventory to activate. A well-run short stay programme, reported through the same system as your core lease book, turns a seasonal gap into evidence of an optimised asset, not a sign that the long stay business is struggling.

Solutions

Built to handle every stage of the PBSA journey

PBSA doesn't run on one kind of tenancy. Long stays, group bookings and short stays all draw on the same beds. Lavanda runs all three through one platform, so that operators manage a single portfolio view and investors can analyse and understand exactly what every asset is earning.

OpenPMS

Run your entire European PBSA operation from a single system

Why OpenPMS for PBSA

Most PBSA operators run two systems side by side - a legacy PMS for the core lease book, and something else bolted on for everything else. That split creates blind spots exactly where investors look hardest - occupancy, revenue and compliance across the whole portfolio. OpenPMS brings long stay leasing, group bookings, nomination agreements, and short stay bookings into one system of record, so nothing needs reconciling and nothing gets lost between systems.

Capabilities

Flexible booking journey

Let prospective residents search, compare and book a room without ever leaving your own website - no redirect to a third-party portal, no broken brand experience between enquiry and signed agreement.

Leasing & sales pipeline

Run the entire annual leasing cycle - enquiry, viewing, offer, signed agreement - in one pipeline, so nothing is chased on a spreadsheet and nothing falls through between your marketing and finance teams.

Room rack & multi-calendar

See every room, every tenure and every turnaround date on one connected calendar, so move-in week and the summer changeover are planned in advance, not managed in a panic.

Portfolio & investor reporting

Pull occupancy, revenue and performance data for a single building or the whole portfolio in the same report, so the numbers you check daily are the same ones your investor sees at quarter end.

Group bookings & nomination agreements

Coordinate block bookings and university nomination agreements alongside your own direct bookings, all within the same system. No separate spreadsheet, no manual reconciliation between the university's allocation and bookings you've taken direct. One occupancy number, one revenue figure, every time an investor asks.

OpenPMS for your team

Finance team

Every receivable, every invoice and every arrears position in one unified ledger so that your finance team can close each month without reconciling two systems, and the investor pack builds itself from the same numbers.

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Operations team

Automate task allocation and manage performance across move-ins, housekeeping, maintenance and turnarounds, so that nothing slips during September or Clearing. Make hospitality and flexible stays part of your operational DNA.

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Marketing team

Clean, live data on occupancy and demand for every asset means your marketing spend gets directed at the beds that actually need filling, not where the last campaign simply happened to run.

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Commercial team

Real time occupancy, booked revenue and pipeline across every building, benchmarked against your own underwrite. It's the same view the asset manager will ask for, ready to share upon request.

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Short Stays

Turn every void into a revenue opportunity

Why Short Stays for PBSA

Term-time voids one-by-one erode annual revenue performance. Shifting demand, slow lease-up on new stock and flux during Clearing all create gaps in an otherwise full building. Every one of them is a question your investor can ask about NOI. Short Stays activates that inventory automatically, live within days and compliant with student-only planning restrictions.

Capabilities

Automated student vetting

Every booking is automatically screened against your building's student-only planning restrictions and eligibility rules before the guest arrives, ensuring every guest is fully vetted without a single manual check from your team.

Year-round occupancy

Activate short stays across summer, Clearing and mid-term voids alike - not just the June-to-September window - so the programme keeps generating revenue whenever a gap in the building opens up.

450+ OTAs & direct booking

List across 450+ OTAs and booking channels, alongside your own branded direct booking site. Every vacant unit is advertised and bookable wherever your guests are already searching, and you’re paying zero commission on the bookings you win directly.

Dynamic pricing

Prices adjust automatically to real demand, term dates and local events, so a short stay unit never sits at a flat rate when the market would support more.

Operational support

Choose how much of the day-to-day runs through your own team and how much you’d like Lavanda to handle - from guest communications and cleaning schedules through to a fully managed on-site service - and adjust it to the specific needs of each building.

Short Stays for your team

Finance team

Clear visibility of every short-stay booking, from reservation to settlement, reconciled automatically against your core ledger, so a summer short stay programme is as easy to report on as it is to run.

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Operations team

Operational support means that guest communications, cleaning schedules and turnovers run automatically, so your short stay programme adds revenue without adding headcount during your busiest months.

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Marketing team

Reach short stay demand across 450+ OTAs all managed in one place, with listings and pricing that stays consistent wherever your inventory is being advertised and booked.

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Commercial team

Turn a seasonal void into a managed, benchmarkable revenue line - with occupancy, pricing and RevPAR measurable by building, ready the moment your investor asks what you're doing about it.

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Frequently asked questions

Can PBSA operators run short stays in student-only buildings?

Yes. Most student-only planning conditions restrict who can occupy a room, not whether it can be let short-term (though this is not always the case). The requirement is typically that every guest meets the same eligibility rules a term-time resident would. Lavanda's automated student vetting checks each booking against your building's specific conditions without the need for any manual review, creating a fully auditable trail.

What is a nomination agreement in PBSA, and how is it managed?

A nomination agreement is a formal arrangement between a PBSA operator and a university, under which the university allocates a fixed number of beds to students as overflow to its own halls, usually at pre-agreed prices. It's common for 60% or more of a building's capacity to sit under nomination agreements. Managing them well means tracking placements that arrive outside the normal leasing process alongside directly-let units, in one occupancy and revenue view - which is what OpenPMS is built to do.

Does running a short-stay programme signal that a PBSA asset is underperforming?

No - and increasingly, investors read it the opposite way. A short-stay programme that recovers void periods is now widely seen as a sign of a more resilient, better-managed asset, not evidence that the core lease book is struggling. It gives operators an additional revenue lever and gives investors a faster, more concrete answer when occupancy comes under review.

How much revenue can a PBSA summer void generate?

It depends on bed count, location and how far in advance the programme is planned - inventory committed to OTA channels six to nine months ahead captures materially more of the booking window than a programme launched in May or June. Lavanda's Impact Analysis models the specific revenue opportunity for a building before any commitment is made, using comparable performance data rather than a generic estimate.

Can one platform manage long-stay leases, nominations and short stays together?

Yes. This is Lavanda OpenPMS' core difference from a legacy student-housing PMS. It manages long stay academic tenancies, nomination agreement placements and short stay bookings as one system of record, so an operator gets a single occupancy and revenue view across every tenure type, rather than reconciling two or three separate systems.

Customer stories

Trusted by operators across Europe.

See how leading organisations are using Lavanda to unlock value, modernise operations and improve resident experiences.

A student study bedroom with a desk, posters and storage.

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Unlocking value beyond term time

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Lavanda’s leading technology will help us deliver a best-in-class student experience, and reflects our dedication to raising the bar for student accommodation.
Tom EllisGroup Strategy & Technology Director, Unite Students
Lavanda gives us the operational platform and the AI capabilities to better handle renewals and upsells without adding complexity or cost.
Leyth HampshireGroup Head of Sales and Marketing, AndSoul
We are delighted to partner with Lavanda to enhance our clients’ summer short stay offerings.
Matt BurtonExecutive Director Partnerships, UPP
We selected Lavanda to be our preferred short-stay partner across our whole 39,000-bed student portfolio due to their excellence in technology and deep knowledge of the short stay industry.
Kate ForesterManaging Director, Homes for Students

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