After a relatively quiet 2023, the coliving industry moved back to growth mode in 2024 with many positive signals from across the globe. While it’s definitely not as ‘hot’ as it was pre-pandemic, we are seeing more sustainable growth from operators which is a great sign for the industry.

1. More Coliving Operators are Turning to Flex Living 

We are increasingly seeing more operators adopt the flex living model - where tenants can choose to stay for 1 day, 1 week, 1 month or even 1+ years. It provides a LOT of freedom and flexibility for tenants, and unlocks new value for real estate operators and investors. The pandemic forced many coliving operators to get creative with their offering to boost revenue and occupancy, and flex living was 1 of the consequences. 

Across the world, we are increasingly seeing companies that started out with a focus on long term coliving quickly add flexliving to their portfolio. Cove, Coliwoo, Habyt, Dash Living and many other market leaders have already moved on this market opportunity, and we expect many more to do the same in 2025.   

2. Institutional Investors Are Looking At Building and Buying Coliving Properties 

The coliving sector witnessed a notable uptick in investments this year. The appeal of coliving to renters is already well known, and investors see the sector’s growth potential, choosing to capitalize on it. A survey by Savills highlighted that 38% of European investors with over €1 trillion in assets under management were already engaged in coliving, with 51% planning to invest within three years. This interest supports the expectation that approximately €2.6 billion of capital is expected to target coliving developments across Europe by 2025.

In the UK, institutional investors have already deployed nearly £1 billion into coliving projects, and lease-up rates have been strong, with some developments achieving full occupancy within months. This surge underscores the coliving sector’s long-term viability, hence pushing for higher institutional investment. 

In India, leading real estate developers like Sattva Group, Divyasree, Shapoorji Pallonji, and many others have started developing their own coliving and student housing portfolio. 

This is a strongly positive signal for coliving operators as the entry of institutional investors signals confidence in the industry itself, and will hopefully, solve the supply challenges that the industry has been facing for many years now. 

3. Adaptable and Customizable Interiors

Coliving spaces are aiming to become more flexible than just easy leasing; by adapting interiors that can easily be repurposed to satisfy different spatial needs of the tenant. 

For example, features such as movable partitions (like Noiascape’s High Street House Coliving in London), multi-functional furniture like sofabeds (like The HANNAH in Singapore), and expanding vertical space (like Zeze Osaka Coliving). This approach not only optimizes limited spaces but also allows tenants to personalize their living environments, catering to both short-term and long-term residents.

4. Experience Driven Coliving Away From Metro Cities 

As a pandemic and post-pandemic reaction to skyrocketing prices of residential units, people moved away. Bases were set up for ‘digital nomads’ in smaller, quaint areas away from metropolises to live, work and build community.  This reaction, doubling with rural economic revival through tourism has allowed for coliving to expand beyond urban centers - once considered a non-lucrative business idea for its ‘lack of traction.’

Sende is a rural coliving space based in the mountains of Spain. As Spain is already a well-known tourist destination, Sende integrates their digital nomad tenants with the local community, bringing the less-commercialized areas of Spain to mainstream light. 

NomadGao is a similar coliving company in India with centers in Goa and Dharamshala. 

Among the larger players in this segment, Outsite and Outpost Club seem to be doing well while their competitor Selina unfortunately had to shut down recently. 

5. Rise of Private Rooms in Coliving, esp in India and other Emerging Markets 

1 of the factors that made Indian coliving unique was that many operators offered shared rooms with 2-3 people sharing a room. This enabled the operator to amortize their costs over a larger tenant base and thereby reduce the rent significantly and cater to that segment of the market. 

The pandemic significantly changed this equation with people seeking private rooms mainly to follow social distancing protocols. That habit seems to have stuck as a majority of the organized coliving industry is now strongly moving towards Single Occupancy rooms. Many operators reported that between 50-60% of their portfolio was now rented to single occupants compared to only 20-25% a few years ago. 

This has also created a supply side challenge as most operators want to onboard buildings which are more of Studios and 1 Bedroom apartments, while many buildings are created with 2 and 3 Bedroom apartments.