CO-LIVING

This idea from the United States and England appeared in 2011 in Brussels and, after timid beginnings, the phenomenon is beginning to take on a new dimension.

Co-living is a combination of coworking and colocation.

The challenge was to develop the concept of coworking as much as possible by offering candidates the possibility of living and working in the same place.

It is a variant of the shared accommodation which offers many additional services, such as, for example, furniture, common rooms dedicated to a theme, domestic equipment, cleaning as well as quality maintenance and environment. And finally, a more flexible duration than in a standard colocation (3 months minimum).

These are mainly hotels and mansions that are chosen to be renovated to accommodate future tenants.

These properties are, in general, occupied by expatriates between 23 and 35 years old, for a period ranging from 6 months to 2 years. The price of a room, between 550 and 900 euros per month, is largely an obstacle for students or even Belgians.

The buildings currently available are concentrated in the most coveted areas of the capital, mainly on the side of Ixelles and Etterbeek, and nearly 400 rooms are offered by the three main players.

Cohabs which has 12 houses in Brussels ranging from 3 to 21 bedrooms and which plans to open 8 new houses in 2019.
Colive which has 7 houses in Brussels and which plans to extend to Antwerp, Ghent and Liège.
And finally, Ikoab which has 22 houses in Brussels ranging from 6 to 15 bedrooms and which is already present in Wallonia with 3 houses on the Charleroi side.
Recently, the major Belgian developers are taking a serious interest in it, as one of the founders of Cohabs says, who says he was approached by around 80% of the big developers in Brussels and as evidenced by the partnership between Colive and Besix Red (property developer ) to develop the concept on a large scale.

The principle is to dedicate new buildings to the co-living room or to propose a floor of a building for this purpose.

The needs of the population are constantly changing and invite us to rethink the way we live and work together. This development generates a large number of new services, products and start-ups, a large part of which will be limited in time. Co-living, unlike most new trends, seems to be able to take place in the long term.

Sources:

https://trends.levif.be/economie/immo/le-coliving-coup-marketing-ou-ver…
https://www.flair.be/fr/lifestyle/le-co-living-un-concept-de-coloc-qui-…
https://www.dhnet.be/regions/charleroi/co-living-une-nouvelle-facon-de-…