Q&A: Helping landlords and students speak the same language
A new platform being developed by four ambitious Antwerp students should help improve communication between student tenants and their landlords
Simple and comprehensive
What does the name Eightant refer to?
The brainstorming about the project took place on the eighth floor of a student house, where all of us – the four founders – were living and became close friends. And it also refers to Antwerp, where the idea originated and where we’re developing our enterprise.
What inspired you to establish the platform?
In our own house, students sometimes complained that they didn’t get a reaction from the landlord when they reported a problem or asked for information. The landlord was also frustrated, because he didn’t have a clear overview of what was needed in the building.
The main problem is that the existing communication – via emails, WhatsApp, Facebook and so on – can be chaotic and confusing. Professional software tools, mostly made in the US, are often not easy to use for people who don’t have much time or ICT experience.
How will your platform improve things?
Eightant will be simple to use and give a comprehensible overview to landlords and students. Students will be able to send personal messages, for example about a broken light in their room, as well as public messages that are relevant for all students, like a problem in the shared kitchen. We will integrate a statistics tool, so landlords can see that there are recurring complaints about noise coming from a certain floor, for instance.
It will also be easier for landlords to notify students about works in the building. And we will integrate a feature for landlords to be warned about inspections of things like fire extinguishers.
What phase are you now in?
We are testing the current version in two very different student houses in Antwerp, one fairly small and one much larger, and negotiating with private investors. We will start up at the beginning of the next academic year, initially focusing on Antwerp and then targeting the whole of Flanders and the Netherlands. Our long-term goal is to also get a foot in the door of the UK market.
