How Colonies used KeyNest to bring order to key chaos across 4,000 units
KEY SUMMARY
Colonies are European-spanning coliving and student housing providers, managing a huge portfolio of over 4,000 units located across France, Spain, Germany and Belgium. As the company began to scale to over 20 new locations every month, their traditional manual key management proved to be a threat to operational efficiency, and began to create unnecessary losses.
With the number of units quickly growing, Colonies found key loss to be a constant drain of resources - it was common for some units to require several different sets of keys and passes to enter the building. When some of these high-security keys went missing, it required a significant amount of staff time and money to replace them.
“We also had issues with loss; tenants would lose them, but it was "never their fault," and we’d have to make duplicates. If it was a high-security key that was lost, we were often stuck. In many of our properties, we had master key systems (keys opening multiple doors), so losing one meant potentially changing an entire lock system. We were accumulating problems” - Lucas Plault-Perrier, Central Operations Manager
Colonies decided on using KeyNest Points, with its expansive network of key storage locations making it an ideal solution for a rapidly growing portfolio.
Unified Automation
Colonies moved away from manual key handovers and started installing KeyNest across their entire portfolio.
Public Points: For distributed flatshares, they used local 24/7 shops (like Carrefour Market and Franprix) so tenants could collect keys near their new home.
On-Site Lockers: For large residences, they installed branded lockers in the lobbies to handle high-volume rotations.
Tech Stack Integration: Crucially, they synced KeyNest with their own management software. This allowed them to automate every check-in email and collection code, removing the need for staff to manually message tenants.
“From an operational standpoint, the time saved by our team and the full suite of automated triggers has significantly improved our service quality and generated savings as a result.” Lucas Plault-Perrier, Central Operations Manager
Standardised Key Processes
Colonies gained a standardised key handover process with the same alerts, verification methods and guest emails across the growing portfolio. Through the use of KeyNest Points, they achieved several key benefits:
“We no longer get lost between what needs to be done for a flatshare in Marseille, a house in Lyon, or a student residence in Paris. We have a process in place that is essentially the same, which has helped the teams be much more efficient.” Lucas Plault-Perrier, Central Operations Manager
Expansion without increased staff overheads
As the Colonies property portfolio grew, the presence of many different KeyNest Point locations made it possible to do so without having to spend more money on extra staff. The automated key handovers via partner shops meant a large arrivals team was unnecessary.
Standardized Operations
Thanks to the uniform nature of the KeyNest Points automated key exchange system, Colonies management could create a single workflow for the entire company. No matter if a tenant moves into a house in Lyon or a flatshare in Germany, the processes and automated alerts would remain the same.
Fewer Locksmith Bills
Thanks to the digital audit trail that tracked every key movement, tenant accountability increased. A reduction in ‘he-said-she-said’ missing key disputes resulted in an overall reduction in replacement costs.
Building a scalable key handover solution was vital for Colonies’ growth. By getting rid of manual key handovers altogether, Colonies turned an operational bottleneck into a 24/7 process that essentially runs itself. Colonies has been using KeyNest Point for years, starting in France, and spreading to the rest of their European network, making scaling to different countries far easier thanks to the standardised key exchange process.
