Near UNZA or CBU
Boarding house operators
You run several beds under one roof, often in divided rooms, with intake and turnover on a term schedule.
Notes for Zambian landlords
No. 08 · Student and boarding house management
Updated September 2026
No. 08 · Student housing
Run a boarding house by the bed
A boarding house near UNZA or CBU is not one tenancy. It is ten or twelve, each with its own start date, its own deposit and often a parent in Kitwe or Chipata doing the paying. On top of that sits one shared water and electricity bill. Most property software sees a building. Tezeka keeps a record for every bed.
In short
- Each bed is its own unit, with its own rent and deposit
- Parents and sponsors can be recorded as the payer
- Charges raised per term, not only per month
- Shared water and electricity split across the beds
02 · Side by side
The same house, two ways
In the exercise book
- One page per room, with beds squeezed into the margins
- The parent paying is a phone number on a scrap
- The water bill argued about at the gate
- Move out week with no photos to compare
In Tezeka
- Every bed has its own tenant, rent and deposit
- The payer is recorded and gets the reminders
- Shared bills split across the beds
- Dated photos for each bed at move in and move out
Every bed is its own unit
A room partitioned into four beds is four units, each with its own tenant, rent, due date and deposit. Occupancy is measured against the beds that can actually earn, not against rooms, so a half full room reads as half full.
A bed counts toward your plan the same way any other unit does. A twelve bed house costs the same as twelve separate lets, because that is what it is to run.
04 · How it works
Term 1 at Roma Student House
Occupancy and billing follow the house as it actually runs: by the bed, and by the term.
- 10 Jan
Beds are let for Term 1, each with its own tenant, rent and deposit.
- 12 Jan
Natasha’s mother pays from Kitwe and gets the receipt herself.
- 31 Jan
The water bill is split across the ten occupied beds.
- 15 Feb
Bed 4B is K2,000 behind. The reminder goes to the payer.
- 30 Apr
Move out, bed by bed, with dated photos to compare.
Parents and sponsors who pay
Student rent is often paid by someone whose name is not on the lease. Tezeka expects that: proof arriving from a number that is not the student’s still reconciles, because matching uses the reference and the amount, not whoever sent it.
The payer is recorded separately from the student, so the person actually paying gets the reminder and the receipt.
Term cycles and shared bills
Charges can be raised per term instead of per month. Outstanding items, such as a late fee, a utility recharge or a replacement key, stay on the student’s account until settled.
A shared water or electricity bill is added as a charge and split across the beds, so nobody argues about their share at the gate. A student asking what they owe over WhatsApp gets rent and every open charge, with a reference to quote when they pay.
Move out week, with a dated record for every bed
Condition photos taken at move in are dated and kept with the tenancy. At move out, the same bed’s photos are compared and any deposit deduction is itemised, with a dispute window from the signed lease.
This is the most common dispute in student housing, and it is usually lost by whoever cannot produce a dated photo.
08 · Who this is for
Three landlords we had in mind
A house split into rooms
Landlords letting to students
A house divided into shared rooms needs a record for each bed, not one for the property stretched to fit.
An agent at the start of term
Agents managing intake
You need to see who has moved in, who has paid and who still owes, across a dozen beds at once.
09 · What changes
What you stop doing by hand
- i
Walking the house to see which beds are empty
- ii
Arguing over the water bill
- iii
Settling deposits without dated photos
- iv
Relying on students to pass on reminders
No. 0001
- Date
- Today
- Received from
- You
- For
- 1 unit
- Amount
- K99 a month
Counterfoil. Keep for your records
Start here
Start with the property you have
Solo is K99 a month for 1 unit. Your tenants keep paying you directly by MoMo, Airtel Money or bank transfer. Tezeka never touches your rent.
How is a shared room billed?
Each bed in it is its own unit with its own rent. Shared costs such as water and electricity are split across the beds.
Can a parent or sponsor pay without the student having an account?
Yes. The payer is recorded separately from the student, and reminders and receipts go to whoever is actually paying. Students never need a Tezeka account.
What happens when everyone moves out at the end of term?
Each bed has its own move out check against its move in photos, so a dozen move outs in one week do not turn into one undocumented scramble.
Is pricing different for beds?
No. A bed counts toward your plan the same way any other unit does. A twelve bed house costs the same as twelve separate lets.
Does it work with terms instead of calendar months?
Yes. Charges can be raised per term instead of per month, which is how student accommodation is usually let.