Why is co-living in the spotlight?
Although Co-living in the UK is in its infancy, it is currently attracting a lot of interest in the property industry. The sector is seen as attractive because of the parallels which can be drawn with the student accommodation, build-to rent, hotels and co-working sectors which have all experienced exponential growth in the last 5-10 years. In this first of a series of blogs on co-living, CBRE will comment on the demand case for this latest bed sector concept, how it stacks up and the critical information you need to know to succeed in this new sector.
The way people live is evolving. Changing patterns of work, rising loneliness, ageing, and the emergence of the sharing economy are making us think differently about the sorts of homes we want, and co-living is one potential solution.
A dichotomy currently exists: the number of people choosing to live alone is rising, but so are reported rates of loneliness. These trends are partly a result of the decline of the nuclear family unit. People are choosing not to get married or have children, and divorce rates are high. But people remain social beings. Like co-working before it, co-living offers people a way to be alone, together: providing people with a sense of community and belonging, without infringing on their independence and autonomy …