A New Boost for “Coliving”

Following after the USA and Asia, the concept of “Coliving” is more and more popular in Spain, due to its many advantages. It has a growing attraction as a result of an increase in luxury apartments, insufficient economic means, and the loneliness of working online imposed by the global pandemic. “Coliving” seems to be the best option.

What does it really mean?

“Coliving” is a new form of living centred around the community. It is a hybrid between a hostel, a student accommodation and a hotel which responds to a need for temporary accommodation considered a half stay (3-24 months). Consequently, “Coliving” consists of renting a room and a bathroom within a building which has other common areas for tenants to work, enjoy themselves and live together with all the services included in the price of the rent. On the other hand, it is interesting to draw reference from the figure of “Cohousing”, in which a group of people design a house for their needs and share, in the same way, the common spaces and services.

Differences between “Coliving” and “Cohousing”

This type of accommodation is particularly popular among young people and digital nomads, which is what distinguishes it from “cohousing”, which in Spain primarily focuses on senior citizens. The use of this living model has increased among young people between 20 and 40 years of age by almost 40% in the last 10 years and this, evidently, corresponds to an incapacity to buy a property.

Currently in Spain, in contrast to other countries in the EU, no specific regulations exist, although on Monday, 24^th July 2023 the plenary of the Madrid City Council approved the modification of the General Urban Development Plan of Madrid. Primarily, this modification will create a new category for “Coliving”: “shared residency” where the residents will not necessarily have to share a link (socially, religion, etc).

These residences may be located in exclusive buildings and the private units will consist of a bedroom and a bathroom. The minimum stipulated surface area is 15m² for individual use and 10m²per person in the shared space. Furthermore, the legislation will also regulate the model of “Cohousing”. In effect, the minimum living space in this case will be 30m²compensated for by the rest, up to 40m² of communal areas.

What can we expect from this new legislation?

The goal is to offer a higher level of legal security, which in turn will attract many more new investors and foreign capital.

To conclude, there will still be a long way to go as the text will be sent to the community of Madrid, for approval by the Governing council with a deadline of 4 months. This would give a real boost to this emerging type of accommodation, which is very advantageous for many people who want to find accommodation, and at the same time will attract economic advantages, such as foreign capital investment for the city.