Are you a young professional looking for a new place to live? Discover the benefits of coliving, an interesting housing alternative that’s taking off in the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Global digitization has brought about an unprecedented revolution in the workplace, driving new work arrangements such as remote work. But it has also had a significant impact on our way of life. Coliving is an innovative housing alternative that has emerged in this new, always-connected digital world and is becoming increasingly popular among younger generations.

Although this model is gaining popularity, it still raises questions, and many people wonder not only what coliving is and how it works, but also what benefits it offers to tenants and landlords. To shed some light on the matter, we’ll review some of its most interesting aspects.

What is coliving?

Like “smartoffices,” cohousing originated in San Francisco, linked to the major tech companies in Silicon Valley. This American city has become the dream destination for many professionals—especially young people—who move there every year to work at these major companies. The housing supply was insufficient to meet this high demand, and as a result, new alternatives such as coliving emerged.

This type of housing can be seen as an evolution of coworking, applied to the real estate sector. Cohousing offers a new lifestyle in which residents share not only common spaces but also experiences and hobbies. The goal is to create a social space open to all residents, reviving the sense of community that is often hard to find in large cities.

How does coliving work?

While coworking and collaborative business models involve sharing workspaces and work experiences, coliving emphasizes community life by creating common areas where residents can get to know one another, share hobbies, or exchange experiences. Coliving buildings offer a model that falls somewhere between student housing, shared apartments, and apartment hotels—but how does coliving work?

In this type of housing, the tenant has a private room, usually with a bathroom and kitchen. However, beyond these private spaces, cohousing is characterized by the quality of its common areas and amenities. Many of these residences operate on a “plug-and-play” system, providing residents with everything they need to move in immediately. In addition, rent typically includes hotel-style services, such as housekeeping and laundry.

The quality of their common areas is another defining feature that sets coliving apart from conventional housing. Buildings designed for cohousing typically feature large common rooms, a dining room, coworking spaces, a library, a gym, multimedia rooms, a swimming pool, and sports facilities. This provides residents with countless leisure options that they can enjoy without ever having to leave home.

Benefits of Coliving

• Cohousing is a lifestyle model focused on experience rather than material aspects, which seeks to foster connections among community members through shared spaces.

• The shared experiences fostered by a coliving space are highly valuable on a personal level, but they are also very beneficial in the workplace. Many young professionals, freelancers, and entrepreneurs choose this type of housing, which creates the perfect environment for collaborative business ventures and the development of synergies to drive entrepreneurial activity.

• This system stands out for its flexibility, offering a perfect alternative for people who move frequently, with a much wider range of services than traditional rentals.

• Cohousing buildings are typically located in large cities, where housing supply is often limited and rents are high, thereby expanding the options for those looking for a new home.

• Coliving also represents a new business opportunity for corporate leasing, offering net returns of up to 7.5%—well above those of traditional rentals. For this reason, more and more developers and investment funds have been investing in this type of housing in recent years.

• Does your job leave you no time to take care of the house? With coliving, you can free yourself from the burden of household chores, since cleaning, laundry, and maintenance are usually included in the lease.

Coliving in Spain

The benefits of cohousing have made it a very popular lifestyle choice among young professionals in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan. In Spain, this lifestyle is still a niche option, but it is gaining traction in major cities, with Madrid and Barcelona leading the way.

Currently, Spain has a coliving housing stock of around 500 beds, but according to experts, this sector will grow exponentially in just a few years, expanding to 4,500 beds. Alongside Madrid and Barcelona, major cities such as Valencia, Málaga, and Alicante—as well as the islands, which are ideal for those seeking good weather and a stunning natural setting—are also pioneers in cohousing. Furthermore, in the wake of the pandemic, this model has also spread to rural areas, where people are seeking peace and quiet and a high quality of life.

The Best Coliving Spaces in Spain

If you’re interested in becoming a cohousing resident, here are some of the best options available on the Spanish market! El Hub Fuerteventura, The Surf Office in Gran Canaria, and Sunny Office in Cádiz are some of the first companies to embrace cohousing in Spain, all of them in enviable locations for exploring and enjoying some of Spain’s best beaches.

Currently, most of the options are concentrated in Madrid and Barcelona. In the capital, notable coliving spaces include Urban Campus—which began as a coworking space—and Oh My Place!, both known for their excellent design. Barcelona also offers many options for colivers, such as Compact Coliving, Vanguard Coliving, Enso Coliving, and Coliving Attico.

Coastal cities are also among the top choices for many Spanish streamers and influencers who, in addition to looking for a good place to work, also want to enjoy the beach, the pleasant climate, and the enviable natural scenery of these areas. Sun and Co in Alicante and Nordik Coliving in Málaga, for example, are two of the most popular cohousing communities.

As you can see, coliving offers destinations for every taste and need! What about you—do you prefer the convenience of living in the heart of a big city or the tranquility of the countryside? Would you like to live near the ocean? Choose your destination and join the coliving community!