Where to start a PG business in Hyderabad
If you want to start a PG business in Hyderabad, there is a steady stream of people looking for a place to stay: students arriving for colleges and coaching, and working professionals moving for jobs. Whether your PG does well depends less on the building than on the first decisions you make — who you house, how you price, what the rules are and how beds and rent are written down.
Start with the resident, then pick the area. Each part of the city has its own mix of people, and that mix decides your sharing types, food, timings and rules.
Ameerpet and SR Nagar
Known for training institutes and coaching centres, so many residents are students and freshers doing courses, often for a few months at a time. They usually want budget sharing, food on time and a short walk to class. Shorter stays mean more move-ins and move-outs, so joining and leaving have to be quick for you and for them.
Madhapur, Hitech City, Gachibowli and Kondapur
The IT corridor. Residents are mostly working professionals who care about Wi-Fi, power backup, clean bathrooms, food timings that suit shifts and a short commute. They pay by UPI, expect a receipt, and notice quickly when a complaint is ignored.
Kukatpally and KPHB
Large residential areas with a mix of students and working people, many of whom travel to other parts of the city each day. Check how your residents would actually get to where they work or study.
Dilsukhnagar
On the east side of the city, with colleges and coaching centres around it, so many residents are students. Rent and food usually matter more to them than extras.
Whichever area you choose, visit at different times of day, look at what nearby PGs offer, and talk to a few of their residents. Ask what they wish their PG did better. That answer is the start of your PG business plan.
Set up rooms and sharing types
Decide your sharing types floor by floor before you buy a single cot. Most PGs offer a mix of single, double and triple sharing, sometimes four, in AC and non-AC rooms. A mix lets you house a student on a budget and a professional who wants a room alone in the same building.
- Number every bed, not just every room: 201-A, 201-B, 201-C. Arguments about "my bed" end when the bed has a name.
- Give every bed the same kit: cot, mattress, a lockable cupboard or shelf, a plug point and a light.
- Plan bathrooms, water and power backup for the full count, not for the first ten residents.
- Decide what each room shares — an AC's electricity, for example — and how that will be charged.
You set up floors, rooms and beds once, with sharing types and AC or non-AC room types. The Rooms board then shows every bed and who is in it, and StayOne refuses to put two residents in one bed. A room's electricity or water bill can be split equally among the residents of that room with Charge room, and each of them sees it in their dues.
Price each bed the way residents compare them
Residents compare PGs by sharing type and by what the rent includes. Price the same way: one rent for each sharing type, AC and non-AC separately, with a clear list of what is included.
- Add up your monthly costs: lease, staff salaries, food, electricity, water, internet, cleaning and repairs. Keep something aside for the months when beds are empty.
- Be honest about occupancy. Beds are never all full. Work out the rent you need if, say, eight beds in ten are filled — not ten in ten.
- Look at nearby PGs with the same sharing and food. Decide whether you will match them, offer more for the same rent, or charge a little more for something they lack.
- Write down what the rent includes — food, Wi-Fi, laundry, housekeeping, electricity — and what is charged separately.
- Decide the deposit and its refund rules now, not at the first move-out. Our guide to PG security deposits covers deductions and refunds.
A simple example, only to show the arithmetic: if your costs come to ₹3 lakh a month and you plan for 50 filled beds, each filled bed needs to bring in ₹6,000 on average just to break even. Single and AC rooms usually sit above that average and larger sharing below it. Use your own figures — every building and lease is different.
When you raise rent later, raise it for everyone on the same day and tell residents a month ahead. In StayOne, Bill all can add a percentage or a flat increase to the month's rent in one go.
Write the house rules before anyone moves in
Most PG disputes are about something nobody wrote down. Put the rules on one page, show them at move-in, and apply them the same way to everyone.
- Rent day, and what happens when rent is late.
- Notice period before moving out, and how the deposit is refunded.
- Gate timings, and what to do if someone is coming back late.
- Visitors and overnight guests: allowed or not, and where they can sit.
- Food: meal timings, packed lunches, Sundays and festival days.
- Electricity: whether the AC's power is in the rent or split by room.
- Cleaning, noise, smoking and alcohol.
- How to report a problem, and how soon you will respond.
When a rule changes, tell everyone at the same time. A notice to all residents in StayOne reaches everyone at once, instead of only the people who read the WhatsApp group.
Registrations, licences and residents' ID proof
What a PG needs before it opens depends on the building, the number of beds, whether you serve food and where you are — and the rules change. A list in a blog post goes out of date, so we will not give one. Instead:
- Check what registrations and licences apply with GHMC and a local professional — a CA or lawyer who works with PGs — before you open.
- If you lease the building, get the owner's agreement in writing that it will run as a PG.
- Talk to your CA about tax on PG income from the first month, not at year end.
- Take safety seriously: fire extinguishers, clear exits, lit staircases and a camera at the gate are good practice anywhere. Ask your professional what your building specifically needs.
Keep a file for every resident
Local police may ask you for residents' details, so keep a copy of every resident's ID. A complete file also settles most questions later — who was in which bed, from when, and what was paid.
- Full name, phone number and a photo
- A copy of a government ID proof
- An emergency contact: a parent, spouse or friend
- Where they work or study
- Move-in date, bed, rent, rent day and deposit paid
- Move-out date, and how the deposit was settled
Keep these somewhere safe — not in a WhatsApp group or a phone gallery that every staff member can scroll through.
Adding a resident takes three steps: name and phone, the bed, then a photo and ID proof. The photo and ID are optional at move-in, so someone arriving at 11 pm is not stuck at the gate, and you can add them to the resident's file the next morning. Managers see only their own hostel's residents.
The daily routine that keeps a PG running
A PG is run by small habits repeated every day. Give your manager this list on the first day and check it with them at the end of the first week.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Every morning | Check move-ins and move-outs for the day and which beds are free. Look at open complaints, urgent ones first. Mark staff attendance. |
| Through the day | Approve UPI payment screenshots and give a receipt for any cash on the spot. |
| Every evening | Count the cash against the cash book. Close the gate on time. |
| Every week | Walk the rooms: bathrooms, water, wiring, pests. Read the mess feedback and adjust the menu. |
| Rent day | Raise every resident's bill and remind anyone still unpaid. |
| Month end | Staff salary and advances, the month's expenses, and what is left after costs. |
For the rent part of the month in detail, read our guide to collecting PG rent on time.
Run your new PG on software from day one
It is far easier to start a new PG in Hyderabad on software than to move an old one onto it. On day one there is no history to type in and no habits to break, and every resident's first experience of you is a clear rent day and a receipt.
Before you open, set up your rooms and beds, the rent for each sharing type, the UPI ID residents will pay into, your house rules as a notice, and a way for new residents to join.
- Print the Join QR poster and stick it at the gate. A new resident scans it and fills a short form, and nothing happens until you approve them and give them a bed.
- Residents pay rent to your own UPI ID or bank account, upload the screenshot, and get a receipt once the manager approves it.
- Your manager can work in English, Hindi or Telugu, on the Android app or in any web browser.
StayOne is made in Hyderabad, and we set up the PG with you. The first month is free; after that, StayOne Lite is ₹999 a month for up to 50 beds at one property (see all plans). Our guide to what PG management software should do explains each part in more detail, and if you have questions before you open, WhatsApp or call us on +91 72077 84667.