A business feasibility study for Equilibrium Partners: Accessing market entry into selected tertiary institutions in Accra for the development of a 500-600 student rental housing unit

Date

2021-05

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Abstract

Given the inverse relationship between Ghanaian annual tertiary admission rates and current tertiary student rental housing, Equilibrium Partners Limited, a leading real estate developer, is looking to develop a 500 – 600 tertiary student rental housing unit for seven selected universities in the Greater Accra Region, namely, Ghana Institute of Management & Public Administration, University of Ghana – Legon, University of Professional Studies, Radford, Lancaster, Knustford and Webster University. With the stated market opportunity, the problem, however, is readily available data on the tertiary student rental housing market, integral in assisting Equilibrium Partners Limited assess the demand and profitability of the tertiary student rental housing market. Thus, the research aims to conduct a business feasibility study on selected tertiary institutions to provide Equilibrium with data-driven market & financial intelligence, which will assist the firm in making an informed decision on market entry. The research scope focused on metrics like the available student housing within selected universities, size of the unmet demand from students, current market price point and the financial feasibility of Equilibrium's prospective development. In conducting the study, students & university officials (in charge of housing) of the selected institutions and private-owned hostel managers were representative of data sources. With a 500-sample size, the research methodology utilized was mixed methods. Given the qualitative and quantitative construct of the study, the mixed method approach allowed for tools like questionnaires and interviews to extract discrete and descriptive data from identified data sources to gain perspectives on the tertiary student rental housing market. Key insights indicated that while demand was high, given the market's low willingness to pay, it was financially unfeasible for Equilibrium to make market entry.

Description

Applied project submitted to the Department of Business Administration, Ashesi University, in partial fulfillment of Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, May 2021

Keywords

student housing, market research, Accra, real estate

Citation

DOI