From Student Accommodation to Co-Living

Students have always been the cool kids in town and now professionals are taking up student accommodation under the pseudonym Co-Living.

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With the changing face of student accommodation, cost of living, housing availability and rooms to rent in city spaces, student accommodation is taking a step into the business sector, with investors following the student accommodation model by creating co-living spaces for professionals.

Co-Living is an extension of the Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) sector which specialises in high density, single self-contained apartments. In this new phase, these apartments are targeted towards high flyers, young professionals, travelling workers and those who want their own space with all of the amenities, right in the heart of the city.

Why is Flatmates.com.au interested in this space?

Our vision at Flatmates.com.au is to create the best shared living experiences. To do that we want to create a position for ourselves as the leader in finding people shared accommodation – in whatever form that may take. Traditionally this has seen us provide a solution for individuals to list rooms in share houses, but we’re seeing an increasing trend in business users on our platform. In a similar way to Booking.com, we are interested in providing a marketing solution to organisations as well as individuals who are offering rooms to rent.

Aspirational Design and Quality

The idea of campus living is a thing of the past and PBSA is here to stay. The sophistication and quality of the buildings and the rooms on offer is constantly increasing across Australia and the volume of rooms available is also continuing to grow. Some great local examples include Iglu & Scape in Australia, and in Lisbon, Collegiate. For our Flatmates.com.au community it means funkier accom and more modern self-contained accommodation with all the amenities.

However, it definitely comes at a higher price than your 1960’s share house in Brunswick West. Although, Co-Living comes without the mould on the walls and the ducted heating is a plus.

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Blurred Lines & Experience

In Europe, there are providers that are blurring the lines around PBSA, Co-Living and Traditional Hotels. Companies like The Student Hotel, offer a range of accommodation covering both short term and longer term in a bid to maximise occupancy. So when students leave at the end of term time, these buildings run seamlessly as hotels, offering a range of room types at competitive prices. Increasingly these providers are also adding a layer of experience on top of the accommodation, driven by a market demand to feel connected to a community.

Technology Layer

Technology is playing its part in this growing industry and not just in terms of how these businesses market themselves, but also how they run their operations. Technology is providing online booking and resident support, community life, as well as logistics like property management. Some providers like Hmlet and Roam are providing memberships catering to digital nomads as well as to the traditional corporate sector who are looking for something better than the traditional drab, overpriced serviced apartment or hotel model.

This leaves our community with some exciting opportunities ahead in this sector. The question remains on how we at Flatmates.com.au ensure that we can help these businesses reach the market they are trying to capture.