📊 A PropTech Solution | 💻 Simplifying Student Housing | 🌍 Social Impact
Housing is a vital aspect of student life, directly influencing academic success and overall well-being. In Kenya, students face significant challenges in finding affordable off-campus accommodation due to limited options, unreliable listings, and inefficient search methods.
The Campus Crib Platform addresses these issues by leveraging technology to simplify the housing search process. Students can filter listings based on location, price, distance, and room type, while real-time chat functionality bridges communication gaps with landlords.
"Empowering students through accessible technology, because housing should never be a hurdle to learning."
Access to affordable and suitable student housing is a significant challenge for Kenyan university students. Current methods; such as relying on word-of-mouth and outdated listings are inefficient and lack transparency.
Many students struggle to find accommodation that meets their needs in terms of price, location, and distance.
This project aims to solve that by creating a centralized digital platform offering real-time, reliable housing information, saving students time and effort while enhancing trust and accessibility.
To develop a web-based solution that enables students to easily search and rent off-campus hostels.
- Investigate existing systems and current means of renting rooms.
- Design a responsive and intuitive system prioritizing user experience.
- Implement a reliable digital solution with verified and affordable housing options.
- Evaluate the system’s effectiveness in meeting student needs.
- What are the key challenges students face when searching for accommodation in Kenyan campuses?
- How can a digital platform connect students with affordable and available housing near their campuses?
- In what ways can a web-based platform improve the housing search process in terms of efficiency, transparency, and UX?
- What core features should be prioritized for affordability, convenience, and accessibility?
- How can a digital marketplace enhance buying/selling of essential products among students?
- How can the platform ensure transparency and trust between landlords and students?
- Addresses the critical need for accessible, affordable, and reliable student accommodation.
- Enhances transparency and efficiency, benefiting both students and property owners.
- Supports Kenya Vision 2030 and the National Housing Policy by promoting student-friendly urban housing.
- Aligns with SDG 4: Quality Education by enabling stable living environments.
- Encourages innovation and contributes to the digital transformation of Kenya’s housing sector.
- Includes a marketplace for students to buy and sell essentials easily and affordably.
We adopt the Agile Methodology (Scrum Framework) for flexibility, iterative development, and continuous improvement.
- Requirement Gathering & Planning – Define backlog: authentication, listing, chat, etc.
- Sprint Planning – Prioritize features like login UI, listing pages, filters.
- Sprint Development – Build in iterations, test early.
- Continuous Feedback – Engage students and landlords for input.
- Sprint Review & Testing – Unit testing for bug-free experience.
- Deployment & Maintenance – Rollout and iterate based on user feedback.
✅ Real-time Listings – Instantly updated room availability
🧑💼 Landlord Dashboard: Landlords can post, manage, and update listings, monitor bookings, and interact with students.
💬 Live Chat Messaging: Instant communication between students and landlords for quick responses and better trust.
🔍 Advanced Filters – Search by price, location, distance, type
📝 Booking System – Book rooms through a simple UI
🔐 Secure Authentication – Keep your data safe
📱 Responsive Design – Mobile, tablet, and desktop friendly
- Advanced MySQL & Database Optimization
- Building Scalable Web Apps with PHP + MVC
- API Development and 3rd-party integrations
- Software Testing and best practices
- ⚡ M-Pesa & PayPal Integration for secure payments
- 📍 Enhanced Google Maps + GIS support
- 📊 Analytics Dashboards for usage insights
- PropTech for local housing
- Data Analytics & Visualization 📈
- Web & App Development
- Social Impact & Open-source solutions