Trends on Co-Living

According to a recent MReport, rising housing costs have been encouraging working adults to consider communal living. Co-living appears to be a new housing trend for 2020. Similar to college dorms, co-living brings a group of people, typically strangers, to live together. Communal living includes private sleeping, and shared space for cooking and bathing. This trend is on the rise due to rising rental rates in the nation’s higher-priced cities. Co-living is particularly popular with the millennial generation in order to save money in living expenses. Because many millennials have been struggling financially, it has been an ongoing challenge to afford their own homes. Due to the housing crisis, many millennials were forced to return home after college to live rent free with their parents. Co-living offers an alternative that allows millennials inexpensive living so they can save to eventually buy a home.

With co-living becoming more and more popular, the options have grown quickly. For example, “WeLive” has opened two locations that offer short-term rental contracts with shared common spaces. “WeLive” includes incentives such as housekeeping, advanced design, and a social atmosphere. According to a co-living resident, Cassidy Claire Risien, “I had been living by myself and it was no longer sustainable.” After discovering her co-living arrangement, Risien loves it, while also agreeing it may not be for everyone: “I initially planned to stay for six months, but I can anticipate myself staying for a long time.” Overall, co-living seems like a reasonable way to avoid moving back home while still being able to save money.

Click here to read the full MReport and learn more.