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🔁📝Need to catch up? Last week’s post covered fractional ownership in coliving and the importance of finding the right community. Read EC21 for a deeper understanding below:
"Building community-driven businesses is the cornerstone for a sustainable and inclusive future, where collaboration and shared purpose drive innovation and resilience." Howard Schultz
Coliving: Solution To The Housing Crisis Or Just Another Way To Maximize Rent
More than 350,000 Australians are now living in group households, driven by a tight rental market and an affordability crisis. The ABS defines group housing as homes with two unrelated adults aged 15 or older and has seen a significant increase in demand. Co-living, where residents share some spaces, is proposed as a solution. However, some experts see it more as a marketing ploy than a genuine fix.
Property developers like Gallery Group and Heaps Good Homes promote co-living for its financial returns, likening it to co-working spaces with private bedrooms that generate separate income streams. Critics argue that co-living focuses on maximizing rent rather than providing affordable housing.
As housing becomes more unaffordable, alternative designs such as duplexes or triplexes are suggested to offer more flexibility and space. However, higher-density housing approvals face challenges due to NIMBYism. Co-living can provide social support and affordability, especially for vulnerable groups, but diverse housing options are essential to meet various needs.
In my opinion, while co-living presents an innovative approach to housing, it's crucial that it genuinely addresses affordability and community needs rather than just serving as a profit-driven model. We must ensure that housing solutions prioritize quality and accessibility for all.
Do share your thoughts in reply to this email, and we will include them in the next edition. Read the complete coverage here.
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Embracing Coliving: Ishan's Journey to Community and Connection
When Ishan Abeysekera moved from London to New York City, he never imagined he would end up living with nearly two dozen housemates. But that’s exactly what happened, and he’s embraced it wholeheartedly.
Ishan, a 32-year-old engineer from Sri Lanka, had planned to live solo for the first time after sharing apartments since college. However, a job offer in New York changed his plans. After a short stint in a temporary apartment, he stumbled upon Cohabs, a co-living company offering shared homes with built-in social life and ease of moving in.
He visited a four-story, 24-bedroom building in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and was instantly drawn to the communal dinners and the prospect of making new friends. Living with 23 others might sound daunting, but for Ishan, it felt right.
“Some of my friends joke that I’ve gone back to college, but I love it. It’s like college, but cleaner and more respectful,” Ishan said. With shared amenities like a gym, movie room, and regular cleaning services, Cohabs offers convenience and community. Each tenant has a private, furnished bedroom, while common areas encourage interaction.
Ishan pays $2,100 for the largest room in the house, complete with a walk-in closet. The rent covers utilities, internet, household supplies, and even a monthly communal breakfast. The setup has helped him form strong social bonds. “If you want to be social, you can. If you need privacy, your room is your sanctuary,” he said.
Cohabs also organizes events like yoga classes, weekend trips, and happy hours, fostering a vibrant community. Despite the bustling social life, Ishan appreciates the balance of privacy and connection. He often climbs at a gym with fellow residents, enjoys Broadway shows and walks across the Brooklyn Bridge.
Living in Cohabs has been a transformative experience for Ishan. “I plan to stay here unless a big life change happens,” he said. His friend and housemate, David Prieto, however, sees it as a transitional phase. He envisions eventually moving to a smaller place with close friends from Cohabs.
For Ishan, the beauty of co-living lies in the connections formed and the dynamic, supportive environment. As more renters embrace co-living, it’s clear that this model offers not just a place to live, but a community to thrive in.
Coliving Spotlight: CasaMia Coliving Singapore
CasaMia Coliving is an urban, long term coliving player in Singapore. They started in late 2019 and have grown to manage around 500 tenants across Singapore.
In the founders words, “Our story started with our thirst for travel and exploring new places to study, live, and work. Our experiences shaped us to be who we are today, mobile and global, with a deep respect for the environment, for lasting friendships, and for taking care of ourselves as well as those around us. We want to share these values with our communities and bring them to an easy living life through the Casa Mia Coliving experience in Singapore.”
In Singapore, accommodation for young professionals in an interesting location is expensive, not flexible, it requires a complex house-hunting process, and often people moving here do not have a social network. Their solution is affordable accommodation, with flexible terms, and all the services they need to just move-in and start enjoying their new place. They have made it easy to find the right new home, through a process optimised for young professionals using technology.
Everything Else Coliving
- Flex Coliving: From Night to a Year: Q&A with Dino Karic, CEO of FLOK, a tech-driven hospitality platform. Read here.
- The Apartment Store, a concept to reinvent empty retail space as homes - designed by Studio Saar with Landstory, Stories, BAS, and Megaphone, has won this year’s £10,000 Davidson Prize.
- There are a lot of nuggets in this Reddit thread on Coliving. Read and contribute here.
- Hear Lachlan Sloan on Kintell share his insights on the future of living. Listen to the full talk here.
- Read all the insights in the comments on Gui’s LinkedIn post on an interview with Brad, the founder of Common.
- Co-living’s arrival in London made a splash with its beautiful, shared spaces and social living concept. It is a unique opportunity for young professionals eager to move out of their family homes but unable to afford traditional housing options or uninterested in typical house shares. So, why aren’t we seeing more co-living schemes across London? Read here.
- Y Combinator-backed proptech startup Landeed raises strategic funding
- Coliving becomes more affordable in India. Co-living firms welcome proposal to exempt GST (Goods and Service Tax) on accommodation services
- The huge potential of new serviced living concepts by Ben Walker
- Developers tout co-living as solution to housing crisis
More coliving spaces are opening up worldwide:
- How is Coliving rising in Dublin? Read this article by Roman Głogulski.
- Scape receives goahead for Canada Water co-living plans. A resolution to grant planning has been agreed for Scape's new co-living development at Canada Water, which is part of the wider Masterplan.
- Plans have been lodged for canalside coliving development in the United Kingdom.
- The first coliving space was launched at Sky Suites at KLCC in Malaysia.
- Plans submitted for Gather & Soul co-living scheme. CBRE submits planning on behalf of GNM Development Ltd for Gather & Soul, a new co-living development on Gas Street in Birmingham.
- The Rise of Co-Living: A Growing Alternative to Traditional Rental of Rooms In Singapore. Rising living costs in Singapore have led to increased demand for co-living arrangements as a substitute for Rental of Rooms In Singapore.
We hope you enjoyed this edition and wish you a great weekend ahead. Reply us with your thoughts on what more you want to read and if you have any feedback.
If you want us to cover anything, please mail it to us on coliving@artof.co
Gui Perdrix & Mayank Pokharna
The Artof.Co team
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