By Sam Horsley, Director of Short Stays, Lavanda.

We’re all in this together. As student accommodation operators navigate another Clearing cycle, that shared reality has never felt more relevant. Whether you’re currently looking at promising occupancy forecasts or facing the uncertainty of gaps to fill, the fundamental goal remains unchanged: delivering exceptional student experiences while optimising asset performance.

This collective challenge presents a unique opportunity to reimagine how we approach Semester 1 strategy. Rather than treating uncertainty as an obstacle, progressive operators are transforming it into their greatest competitive advantage.

The traditional playbook (and its limits)…

The established approach to Clearing has served the sector well: secure long-term tenancies early, stay agile during the August-October window, then reactively monetise any remaining inventory through short-stays. This methodology prioritises certainty and minimises complexity – entirely logical given the operational pressures that define this period.

What has changed, however, is the texture of demand inside Semesters 1 and 2. Cost-of-living pressures have reshaped how students combine study, work and travel. HEPI/Advance HE’s 2025 Student Academic Experience Survey, published in June, found 68% of full-time undergraduates now work during term-time – up from 56% the previous year. That’s a meaningful shift in weekly rhythms, with a knock-on effect upon accommodation behaviour. At the same time, a visible commuter cohort is growing; UCAS data suggests around a third of applicants intend to live at home, particularly in higher-cost cities. These are of course macro-signals rather than city-by-city insights, but they help explain why “all-or-nothing” leasing assumptions are increasingly brittle.

There is also a calendar reality. With the last date to add Clearing choices falling on 20 October 2025, operators are not just managing a results-day spike; they are trading through a six-week period in which acceptances, course switches and late arrivals can still reshape the local picture. It is perfectly rational, therefore, to evolve your operating model so that it can better flex and respond inside of term-time.

From reactive “salvage” to a structured term-time short-stay strategy

Across a growing number of assets, the most effective response has been deceptively simple: bake a term-time short-stay programme into Plan A, rather than spinning it up as Plan B once long-let demand is set. The aim isn’t to displace long-term lets; it is to build optionality into the inventory so a proportion can move – cleanly and compliantly – between short, medium and long stays as the semester unfolds.

The practical benefits are straightforward. Firstly, a live short-stay capability allows you to engage genuine in-term demand (commuter patterns; lab intensives; placements; late visa arrivals; exchange students on irregular start dates, etc.) at the very point that demand appears. Secondly, treating short stays as part of the core go-to-market trains the on-site team in processes and protocols before the pressure hits – housekeeping cadence, ID checks, student-only guest policies, booking and payment flows – so that adding or reclaiming units is an operational choice, not a fire drill. Furthermore, many operators see a number of their short-stay residents in Semester 1 convert into longer-term residents wishing to extend into Semester 2, Semester 3 and beyond over the summer months – so, aside from delivering value in the present, having this muscle is an important tool for developing your occupancy pipeline for the remainder of the academic year without early discounting.

Inside Clearing: what this looks like in practice

A number of operators have moved to a model where every asset goes into Clearing with a scoped, operationalised term-time short-stay capability – sometimes starting with just a single, dedicated unit to “switch on” operations and signal availability. From there, inventory can be scaled up or down in line with live local signals: weekly conversations with university admissions and accommodation teams; the pattern in UCAS’s Clearing analyses; and the asset’s own booking curve during September. Because the short-stay operation is already live, the team can respond to shifts at the course or provider level – adding capacity where late acceptances and timetable intensity warrant it, or reclaiming units as long-let demand firms up.

This isn’t hypothetical. In September 2025, Lavanda-enabled programmes in Edinburgh and Sheffield illustrate the mechanics. As of today, the Edinburgh asset has reached short-stay occupancy of around 70%, with the Sheffield asset standing at approximately 73%. In both cases, this has translated into tens of thousands of pounds of in-month revenue per building, reducing the pressure to discount remaining long-let stock, and offering the ability to scale capacity further as Clearing movements settle. (As ever, performance is highly localised; the value is in the operating protocol as much as the numbers.)

Why this approach makes sense

Two objections tend to surface, both reasonable. The first is that short stays will “distract” teams from the core long-let mission. In practice, the opposite is usually true when the capability is established before peak pressure. A small, defined short-stay allocation gives staff and systems a clear pathway for check-in/check-out, housekeeping and student conduct inside a student-only building. From there, scaling is just capacity planning. The second is the fear of “missing” long-let demand. Here the reversibility matters: unsold units can be reclaimed with minimal friction when a stronger-than-expected long-let wave arrives. What’s gained in the meantime is not just income, but market intelligence – a live read on who is booking, why, and for how long.

A related benefit is reputational. For a subset of students – commuters, those on placements, those arriving later – credible, well-run flexible options in September and October are part of what makes a building feel student-centric rather than rigid. In a cycle where top grades have nudged up again (JCQ notes a small increase at A–A* compared to 2024), and where subject choices and regional patterns keep shifting, the buildings that can adapt best during term-time offer universities another tool for smoothing the student experience. 

Beyond Semester 1

Most PBSA operators already run excellent summer short-stay programmes. Extending that operating competence into the academic year does more than fill September gaps: it turns flexible inventory management into a standing capability. That, in turn, feeds better market insight, a broader demand footprint, and a calmer response when the cycle throws its inevitable curveballs – visa delays, course changes, last-minute acceptances, and all the rest.

This year’s data gives the backdrop: strong acceptances on results day and a long Clearing window mean more movement for longer; at the same time, affordability pressures are pushing students to combine study and work in new ways, with consequential effects on housing patterns. Treating term-time short stays as part of the core plan is a pragmatic response to both realities. 

Developing a sustainable competitive advantage

In 2025, Clearing is a rolling market in which local market intelligence and operational flexibility are the differentiators that set operators up for success. The question for each building is not “did we sell out early?” but rather “did we put ourselves in the best position to capture the demand that actually materialised, when it materialised?” For many operators this semester, that has meant activating a structured term-time short-stay programme ahead of Clearing, sizing it to the local reality, and letting it expand or contract as the picture clears.

If you’d value a conversation about how this might work in your city for your assets, please do get in touch with one of Lavanda’s term-time short-stay specialists. The model is adaptable; the gains are tangible; and the learning compounds quickly – helping you not only monetise your assets more effectively in the here and now, but setting you up for success in Semester 2 and next summer as well.