Housing as a Service: What It Is and How It Works
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Housing as a Service (HaaS) is a serviced temporary-accommodation model. It coordinates space preparation, connectivity, utilities, scheduled cleaning, covered maintenance and support. In shared accommodation, it also includes the management of shared living. The HaaS acronym also inspired the name Haaus®.
Arriving and putting down your suitcase is the visible part. The difference begins before arrival and continues throughout the stay: the space and agreed services are already prepared, while connectivity, utilities, scheduled cleaning, covered maintenance and the support channel are coordinated day to day.
The model is not simply a matter of adding extras to a space. Its value lies in coordinating them as one continuous operation. Residents retain their autonomy without having to manage every provider separately. In shared accommodation, the management of shared living adds common rules and clear communication channels.
Sources use HaaS in different contexts. Here it is used as an operational framework, not as a legal label: the offer and the contract determine what each stay covers. In this article, HaaS means Housing as a Service; Hardware as a Service is another concept.
How Housing as a Service works
For Haaus, the model comprises four layers that work as one system, linking the preparation before arrival with the day-to-day operation of the accommodation.
1. Prepare the space before arrival
Before a room can be offered, the space must be adapted, designed, furnished and equipped, with utilities and connectivity activated. Depending on the property and the agreement, this may also involve investment or financing, insurance, taxation, refurbishment and energy-efficiency improvements.
For the person arriving, all of that becomes something straightforward: a furnished room, equipped shared areas and the included services already active. Instead of buying furniture or arranging internet access, the stay can begin with the essentials in place.
2. Coordinate the day-to-day of the stay
Once the stay begins, so does the day-to-day operation: managing availability and bookings, completing the documentation, preparing check-in and check-out, coordinating scheduled cleaning of shared areas and handling covered maintenance.
Haaus also provides a channel for reporting accommodation-related issues and coordinates the response within the scope of the service. The offer and contract specify which maintenance is covered and which conditions apply.
3. Guide and accompany when necessary
Knowing where the nearest supermarket is, or how to begin a municipal-registration or NIE application, resolves many of the questions that arise in the first few days. Haaus shares practical information and general guidance; each person submits their own documents, and decisions remain with the relevant public authority.
The team also shares local recommendations and, when included in the programme, organises meet-ups or activities. Participation is optional. For people who would like to meet others, these can be an easy way to break the ice without turning social life into an obligation. The guide to meeting people after arriving in Barcelona explores this in more detail.
Current partnerships with local businesses may also provide member benefits. The participating brands and applicable conditions are communicated when available.
4. Manage shared living in shared accommodation
Shared accommodation adds another layer of complexity: people with different schedules, habits and expectations live under one roof. Haaus manages shared living through an onboarding process, house rules and clear channels for reporting issues. When intervention is required, the measures set out in the terms of the stay apply.
This layer also reduces small day-to-day frictions. Scheduled restocking of shared essentials — toilet paper, kitchen roll, hand soap, washing-up liquid, cleaning products and bin bags — helps prevent those purchases from ending in a “whose turn is it?” debate.
Not every operator includes the same services. The room listing, offer and contract should make clear what is provided during each stay.
Housing as a Service, flexible accommodation and coliving: differences
In this article, the terms are used as follows:
Flexible accommodation describes the option of booking a stay for a defined period, subject to availability and clear conditions.
Coliving describes a way of sharing accommodation and common spaces. The guide on what coliving is and how it works explains that concept in more detail.
Housing as a Service describes how the accommodation is prepared and how its services are coordinated during the stay.
Accommodation can include services without being coliving, and a coliving offer can include a broader or narrower service layer. When the two models overlap, shared-living management is added to space preparation, day-to-day operations and support.
Self-management or Housing as a Service: two different proposals
Self-management | Housing as a Service at Haaus |
|---|---|
Space and furniture: choose, buy and assemble | Space and furniture: arrive to a prepared room and equipped shared areas |
Utilities and internet: arrange and manage them separately | Utilities and internet: have the services included in the stay already active |
Day-to-day operation: clean on your own or hire and coordinate cleaning, replacements and maintenance | Day-to-day operation: know which cleaning, restocking and maintenance the service covers |
Accommodation issues: find providers and oversee the work | Accommodation issues: report the issue through a defined channel and receive a coordinated response and follow-up |
Shared living: agree rules and resolve friction among housemates | Shared-living management: have rules, reporting channels and measures set out in the terms of the stay |
Neither option is better for everyone. Self-management gives more control to people who want to arrange utilities, assemble furniture, organise cleaning and deal directly with repairs or maintenance. HaaS is a better fit for those who prefer to delegate some of those tasks during a temporary stay.
An early morning leak: from the warning to the solution
An early-morning leak illustrates the value of a coordinated operation more clearly than any definition.
As Andrés Angulo, Operations Specialist at Haaus, recalls, a resident reported the issue at around 3:00 am. During the response, the team observed a temporary increase in the building’s water pressure; without a technical report, the burst is not attributed here to one specific cause.
A team member reached the property about thirty minutes later. They shut off the water, removed the standing water, cleaned and dried the floor to protect the wood, and arranged an urgent visit from a specialist. The technician arrived at 8:00 am, replaced the damaged section of pipe and resolved the issue in under six hours from the initial report.
The residents reported the issue and provided access. Haaus activated the on-call response, found the appropriate specialist and followed the repair through to completion. Not every issue can be resolved within the same timeframe, but the sequence captures the service: receive the report, contain the damage and coordinate the solution.
We are available 24 hours a day to receive and prioritise urgent accommodation-related issues and coordinate the response. If there is a risk to people, a fire, or a medical or security emergency, the first step should always be to call 112. Andrés Angulo · Operations Specialist at Haaus
Where the concept comes from, and why it inspired the name Haaus
The term predates Haaus. An academic publication indexed by Aalto University documents the use of the expression in 2006 in the field of senior accommodation. In 2018, Urban Renaissance Agency and Toyo University presented Open Smart UR, a proposal that combined accommodation, daily services and technology.
A 2025 academic study described HaaS as an integrated service system centred on the people who use it. The contexts differ and do not establish a universal definition, but they show that the idea goes beyond adding a list of extras to a space.
Haaus was founded in Barcelona in 2022, as reflected in its profile in the Barcelona & Catalonia Startup Hub. According to one of its co-founders, the name emerged from the research and design work that began in 2021.
The starting point was Housing as a Service, whose acronym is HaaS. The “u” was added to bring the name closer to house in English while visually evoking Haus, the German word for “house”. The name therefore preserves the original idea: accommodation and service designed as one coordinated operation.
How to know if this model suits you
A 2025 review of ten offers published by OCU highlights an important point: "services included" does not always mean the same thing. Scope, utility caps and cleaning frequency may vary. Before booking, check:
Services included: what the stay covers, who manages each task and what is left out.
Utilities, cleaning and restocking: what limits, frequencies or reasonable use criteria apply.
Assistance: which channel is available, during which hours and how accommodation-related issues are prioritised.
Shared-living management: what rules and communication channels exist, and what measures can be applied in the shared space.
Personal fit: how much you want to manage on your own and how much you prefer to delegate during the stay.
You can also consult the frequently asked questions and review the room listing, offer and contract before confirming the stay.
If the model suits your plans in Barcelona, compare the available options and check each room listing to see which services are included.
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