The UK Co-Living Market

With London set to reach a population of 9.5 million by 2026, it is expected that the private rented sector will reach 35%.

According to the Office for National Statistics, 515.000 people are in shared accommodation in London - this number is based on 2.5 persons per dwelling and only covers licensed HMOs, which are only a fraction of the market. Taking these factors into consideration, we estimate that the market could be up to three times larger than this.

“The Co-living sector (mostly known as the ﬂat-share market in London) is inelastic, extremely fragmented and has a diverse demographic, with most people are aged between 18 and 35 years old”

The London Co-living market is worth £5.35 billion per year. Big cities will continue to attract young populations from home and abroad. Those people will need an affordable place to live.

The Co-living sector is an inelastic industry with low overheads, a diverse client base, and a product which unlike the apartment market, is not over-supplied. Co-living provides higher returns per square foot compared to typical residential models and taps into an almost unlimited market when operating in large cities.

The coronavirus pandemic has created many idle spaces, especially in use class properties. These are perfect for co-living conversion, and so we see new opportunities to provide affordable, high-quality co-living developments.

We aim to acquire property on freeholds/long leases and develop purpose-built co-living accommodation by repurposing conventional residential and commercial spaces. Acquired commercial space will be turned into co-living space under permitted development.