Cleanliness in student accommodation is not just another part of shared living, it is a key factor in resident satisfaction, complaint levels, and even the long-term performance of accommodation assets. With 65% of students reporting at least one issue with their housing, problems in shared spaces are increasingly driving dissatisfaction and placing ongoing reactive pressure on facilities teams.
Facilities managers are being challenged to rethink how hygiene is maintained across busy, high-footfall environments. There must be consistent standards in buildings where occupancy patterns are unpredictable and responsibility is shared.
To help facilities teams stay ahead, our national accounts manager, Kate Ammirato, has developed a practical 5-point checklist for assessing and maintaining hygiene standards in student accommodation:
1. Increase visibility across communal spaces
One of the biggest challenges in student accommodation is simply knowing what is happening on the ground. Communal kitchens, bathrooms, and social areas experience constant and often unpredictable usage, making it difficult to maintain consistent hygiene standards across every touchpoint. Traditional cleaning schedules can struggle to keep pace with real demand, leaving facilities teams reacting to issues rather than preventing them.
Improving visibility and consistency starts with creating a more structured and consistent approach to cleaning operations. The Jangro LMS supports this by providing standardised training across operatives, helping ensure every team member follows the same procedures and best practices regardless of site or experience level. This creates greater consistency across day-to-day cleaning tasks while helping facilities teams maintain higher standards across communal student environments.
2. Standardise cleaning procedures
Consistency is one of the biggest challenges for facilities managers overseeing multi-occupancy student accommodation. Without clear, structured processes in place, cleaning quality can vary significantly between staff, shifts, and sites, leading to inconsistent standards and avoidable resident complaints.
Solutions such as the EcoShot Dosing System and ntrl Surface Sanitiser Unfragranced Pouch help remove guesswork, delivering accurate chemical dilution every time and reducing variation between shifts. Combined with structured cleaning schedules, standardised product selection can build more reliable cleaning processes that are easier to manage across multiple student accommodation settings.
Looking to improve hygiene standards across your student accommodation sites? Speak to Jangro to find the right solution for your facilities.
3. Make hygiene impossible to ignore
Resident behaviour plays a significant role in shaping cleanliness outcomes, particularly in shared spaces. Even the most effective cleaning regime will struggle if hygiene is not reinforced at a behavioural level.
Simple measures such as strategically placed hand sanitiser dispensers in entrances, lifts, and kitchens encourage regular use and help reduce the spread of germs in high-traffic areas. Clear signage in bathrooms and communal spaces also reinforces expectations around handwashing, waste disposal, and general cleanliness. These everyday prompts help embed hygiene into daily routines, rather than treating it as an afterthought.
4. Review problem areas regularly
Hygiene standards cannot be maintained effectively without ongoing review. Student accommodation is dynamic, with usage patterns changing throughout the academic year, meaning that problem areas can emerge quickly if not actively monitored.
Regular reviews help facilities managers to identify recurring issues, respond to resident feedback, and adjust cleaning schedules where needed. This approach ensures that resources are targeted where they are most needed rather than being spread too thinly. Jangro supports facilities teams by helping assess current cleaning processes and recommending solutions that are best suited to student environments. A more proactive approach to reviewing hygiene standards can also improve the resident experience by helping facilities teams respond faster to issues and maintain cleaner communal environments throughout the year.
5. Simplify supply management
Behind every effective cleaning operation is a reliable supply chain. Inconsistent product availability or fragmented procurement processes can quickly create operational challenges, especially for facilities managers overseeing multiple student accommodation sites.
Working with a single, trusted supplier like Jangro helps simplify procurement and creates greater consistency across cleaning operations. With a nationwide network of local distributors, facilities teams benefit from reliable product availability, responsive support, and faster access to the products they need, helping reduce the risk of disruption in busy environments.
This not only makes ordering and stock management more straightforward but also gives facilities managers greater confidence that cleaning operations can continue running smoothly during peak demand periods.
To find out how Jangro can support your student accommodation facilities, find your local Jangro distributor.
Closing the hygiene gap and keeping student accommodation spotless
Ultimately, improving hygiene standards in student accommodation requires a joined-up approach that combines consistency and simplified procurement.
Facilities managers who take a proactive approach are better positioned to improve resident satisfaction and protect long-term asset performance.
Whether you are managing one site or an entire accommodation portfolio, Jangro can help simplify hygiene management.