Collaborative living

In the process, they are also shunning the narrative of individualistic consumption, and are more likely to rent or share a lawn-mower than to own their own. It’s for this reason that business models like Uber and Airbnb have become popular.

Co-working spaces offer people a place to work, interact, and collaborate with like-minded people, usually in a hot-desk format. Such spaces have become popular with the rise of ‘Digital Nomads’ (remote workers) and optimistic entrepreneurs, who seek a more meaningful replacement for the traditional office setting.

The trend has grown further and now extends to dwellings; Co-living is the new evolution of shared housing which brings people together and bucks the housing model set by earlier generations. There are two main forms of co-living spaces. The first is essentially a share-house: residents have their own room (or in some instances a bed in a dorm) and share the other facilities such as a kitchen, bathroom and living room. The second iteration is primarily a co-working space, with accommodation added, and focuses on bringing like-minded people together.

Co-living spaces have quickly popped up in metropolitan cities worldwide and are particularly popular in areas with growing housing costs such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Sydney. Co-living spaces in these cities appeal to local workers who want a more affordable place to call home, as well as expatriates. Co-living spaces have also cropped up in less metropolitan areas, such as Bali and Siam Reap and mainly target digital nomads who not only want to reside in areas that provide leisure opportunities and a lower cost of living but who also want a place to be productive.

These spaces are growing in popularity for a number of reasons. Financial reasons are certainly one of them, demonstrated by their prevalence in cities like Singapore, Hong Kong and Sydney, which are notorious for soaring housing costs. This is especially true in the land-limited island of Hong Kong, where rising house prices has led to people being resigned to dismal micro-living arrangements. But financial factors aren’t the only driving force behind this rise in demand.

Millennials, and the generation that follows them are desperately seeking a sense of community, which is increasingly hard to find in metropolitan areas, even with the advent of social media. Young people are drawn to the promise of a community, and co-living spaces which offer regular social outings, events, and workshops are all appealing to that demographic. Sharing a lounge room isn’t a hindrance in these places, but a drawcard.

Co-living spaces help young people become connected to likeminded people. They offer an easy way to establish friendship networks when people move to new cities or countries and facilitate networking between young professionals and budding entrepreneurs. Some co-living places carefully select applicants based on personality criteria to ensure that the residents co-exist peacefully and successfully.

In places like Manila in the Philippines, co-living spaces like The Flats by Ayala Land and MyTown - Pitigo offer affordable dorm beds which allow a growing number of young people to get to work in the city without suffering in the notoriously bad traffic in Manila – a city where it is sometimes faster to walk than it is to sit in traffic jams for hours. In South Korea, a study was completed which found evidence that co-living also sports the benefits of improving mental health, particularly depression.

Co-living spaces have yet to enter Vietnam, but as the cost of accommodation rises sharply in high-density cities such as HCMC and Hanoi, and with an expanding youth demographic, there is demand for more affordable housing solutions. This growing trend provides new opportunities for investors in Vietnam, who might wish to target the 16 million people under the age of 30 who wish to move out.

SOURCES

Jeongseob Kim & Gi-Hyoug Cho, 2019. "Does co-living improve the physical and mental health of residents?," ERES eres2019_135, European Real Estate Society (ERES).

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