Applying Co-Living Concept in Southeast Asia: Is It Working?
Housing development is one of the most heated sectors in most countries. With the population growth in emerging countries like Indonesia, the demand to own a house is still large.
The population in Indonesia is not expected to decrease any time soon and the birth rate is expected to continue growing rapidly until 2030. Statistics Indonesia predicts that by the end of 2035, Indonesia’s population might reach 305 million, among which the millennials generation will dominate the population.
According to The Jakarta Post, Eight provinces in Indonesia need more attention to the housing ownership rate per household, where the homeownership rate per household is below 80 percent. Jakarta stands the poorest, with almost one out of two households not owning a house. This slower rental price of growth in commercial property indicates that the business is currently shifting.
That is how Co-Living concept was born.
Co-Living Concept
Co-Living spaces are exclusive residential spaces that foster community living and are created by external agents. Co-Living combines many aspects, such as a sense of community, sustainability, and a collaborative economy. This concept emerged in Denmark in the 1970s — originally under the name of co-housing.
Most of Co-Living provides fully furnished with a slew of free amenities like wi-fi, electricity, water, DTH, housekeeping, security, gaming zones, fully equipped kitchen. Private accommodation with common shared spaces is the new way of living for youngsters who earlier had no ready housing options.
“Co-Living is moving to the PropCo/OpCo model (property company/operating company) where builders will develop built-to-suit, co-living spaces, and operating companies like ours will operate and manage them,” said Pratul Gupta, Co-founder of Grexter, Co-Living in Bangalore.
Today, Co-Living offers a multitude of possibilities, ranging from people who simply live together to communities who also share values, interests, and a philosophy of life.
COVE: Singapore-based Co-Living
COVE is one of the Co-Living spaces based in Singapore that is founded by Luca Bregoli, Guillaume Castagne, and Sophie Jokelson.
Founded in 2018, COVE is catering to a growing generation of mobile working professionals. COVE homes integrate flexibility and convenience with comfort and style for a seamless move into a new city.
Today, COVE has rented 29 different properties across 13 cities around the world. They combine local expertise with expat experiences to offer a selection of properties that are close to vibrant community life, great transport links and essentials amenities. COVE claimed that it is up to 40% cheaper than the average studio and apartment. COVE has contract terms that relatively flexible, with only 3 months minimum stay and no agent fees to pay.
In September 2019, COVE announced that it has raised over US$2 million in seed funding. The startup will use the funds to expand its presence in Southeast Asia and also build its technology.
Indonesia’s version of Co-Living: Rukita
One of the Co-Living in Indonesia worth mentioning is Rukita. Rukita is an experience-focused co-living brand with a mission to make living better for urbanities in Asia’s fast-growing emerging economies. This company works with real-estate owners and partners to transform potential assets in dense and pricey urban areas into fully serviced Rukita living experience for white-collar professionals and students.
They state that they want to repurpose under-utilized real estate to create affordable quality living spaces for millennials.
The company’s Co-Living shared spaces offer hassle-free and move-in ready apartments equipped with a standard set of amenities and designed with comfort, style, and functionality, enabling people to access comfortable homes for their stay-ins. Rukita is available in 9 areas all over Jakarta including Setiabudi, Menteng, Senayan, Fatmawati, Karawaci, Grogol, Kuningan, Thamrin, and Semanggi. Most of Rukita’s locations located near the office area.
Co-Living is becoming a trend as the younger generation cherish memories and experiences as assets rather than physical ones.
If you live in Southeast Asia, would you live in those properties?
