Creighton University and Housr launches new off-campus housing software app to make house-hunting easy for students.

On Oct. 20, Creighton University officially announced its new off-campus housing partnership with Housr, a student living software dedicated to making the house-hunting experience for students easier, accessible and centralized to a singular mobile app.  

“We’re not doing this for money. It’s not trying to grow for our gain. It is literally because education is so valuable, and we don’t want students missing out on that because they can’t get housing,” College of Arts and Science junior and Housr student ambassador Madeline Logue said.  

Co-founded by CEO Harry Panter and CTO Ben Clayton, according to its website, Housr’s roots in the United Kingdom were established in 2021 at the University of Manchester due to the overwhelming frustration from students who needed to find off-campus housing.  

“They did a survey and found that most kids that drop out of college [do so] because they can’t find housing. There’s a huge housing crisis. So, he [Panter] and his buddy [Clayton] got together. They made this app, and they turned it into a thing because they didn’t want kids dropping out because of housing,” Logue said. “They brought it over to the U.S., and they found similar statistics that a lot of students that drop out struggle with housing. So that was the goal; we want students to know that that’s our purpose. We’re not trying to make money off [of] you. The whole purpose goes back to we don’t want people to lose their opportunity at education because they can’t find housing.” 

Now, the app is looking to grow its roots further in the United States with Creighton named the app’s second Nebraska partner, first being the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Creighton is also Housr’s first partner in Arizona, with the app also available for students on the Phoenix campus.  

“They are going to be partnering with different places in Omaha and also in Phoenix to bring the off-campus housing opportunities all into one app that students can log in, they can look through the openings and they can also create roommate groups or find roommates on Housr. They’ll be able to have a lot of different capabilities on the app as well. It’s mainly for that housing piece, but they’re also partnering with local businesses to offer discounts and perks for students and things like that,” Associate Director of Student Life Marketing and Communications Lauren Fischer said.  

With new housing options being made available since Nov. 5, Creighton Housr users have the first selection of brand-new house and apartment listings near campus with exclusive student offers and properties that are made available seven days prior to the Omaha public. Housing partners that are forged through the forum must also undergo an evaluation by the university as well.  

“We talk to the housing places and then Creighton approves them. So, they know they’re safe places for their students to live, and then there’s the plus [that] you know it’s only other students on [Housr]. So, if you do need to find a roommate, you can find a roommate on the app,” Logue said.  

According to College of Nursing sophomore and Housr student ambassador Ali Hauser, the app is also configured to resemble mainstream social media platforms to better appeal to and create a sense of familiarity for their university audience.  

“Housr is this app that you can download right on your phone … basically you can scroll through it like you would any TikTok feed … the founders made it almost like a dating website so you could swipe on housing and lights, and it’s supposed to be targeted towards college students,” Hauser said. 

In a previous email Creighton Living sent out on Feb. 4, the sophomore class and upperclassmen were notified that they would only be eligible for a nine-month contract for Kenefick Hall via randomized lottery. They were also told that only a select amount of students who are required to remain on campus would be eligible to renew their lease in Opus Hall. With only 96 rooms, projected to house two residents each, many students were required to find alternative housing.  

“I think the hous[ing] and applications [are] like one of the worst parts of college. [It] is struggling to just figure out who you’re living with, how you’re all going to make it work, signing the lease with the landlord, communicating with the landlord; it’s all the stuff that we’ve never done before, and if I wouldn’t have heard about our house being pass down through someone I knew, we wouldn’t have run the house,” Logue said. 

Though the university did offer a Fall Housing Fair on Oct. 27, 2025, in conjunction with its original off-campus partner Omaha Off-Campus Housing, according to Logue, some Creighton students still struggled to solidify housing for the upcoming school year.  

“I think we did have the old campus partner, and I think that it was okay, but I don’t think it was built for our generation, if that makes sense. It wasn’t necessarily modern enough, and I think a lot of students struggled, and they would just end up on apartments.com anyways,” Logue said. “I think that the goal with this is Creighton wanted us to use the resources that they provide. Creighton is paying for essentially a subscription for every student, and they were doing that with the old campus partner I would assume, and students weren’t using it. So, they were just spending all this money for a lot of students to not even use it.”  

Housr not only allows for a list of specialized options to be made available at a user’s fingertips, but it also centralizes all necessary actions to a single app. Communication with the landlord, paying rent, bills and making maintenance requests can all be completed on the application.  

“I feel like [Housr] definitely takes a load off [of the students] and, especially if stuff doesn’t work out last minute for you or your housing situation for that current year, [and you] need to try something new, this is a great thing for that,” Hauser said.  

The app doesn’t only provide money-saving opportunities for housing. Housr also partners with local businesses to provide various coupons and savings events for student users as well.  

“As of right now, I’ve been using all the perks because there’s a perks tab in the app where you can see –– well here’s the Uber voucher. So you can enter monthly to win, but then there’s also a ton of deals with Apple. We have Trifecta, NordVPN and Boohoo, but there’s deals through here or for Lula B’s, you can get a dollar off your follow-up pay. So, there’s a bunch of perks that you can have for just having the app and signing in with your Creighton email,” Hauser said. 

Regardless of whether students are in need of off-campus housing, local deals or are looking for giveaway opportunities, according to Fischer, Housr serves as a tool for students to get to know their community and the Omaha area better.  

“I think, if you look on the app and you’re seeing businesses that you haven’t been to before, it’s a really good opportunity to go explore and see what else is out there because we do get stuck in a Creighton bubble,” Fisher said. “Even us, as staff and faculty, it’s kind of like, ‘Okay, we’re here, and this is what we’re going to do.’ But there’s so much in Omaha to explore. And, even if it’s a place that’s farther out west that maybe you haven’t been to, go see it and check it out and support those local businesses. And maybe there’s something else out there that you haven’t discovered yet, and something else in Omaha to fall in love with.”