Well, think again. Coliving can be seen dating as far back as the 1800’s. The only difference now is living spaces are smaller and most likely far more expensive.
In the 19th Century they were mainly for women to give them time to find their feet before they looked for alternative accommodation. They also made a great first home for immigrants. It is estimated that between one third and one half of households either took in boarders or where boarders themselves. No doubt with slightly less reference checks than we do these days!
Well into the 20th Century boarding houses were still present for workers and during World Wars to house people far from home stationed in unfamiliar places.
These boarding houses and peoples homes became small communities. We can say the same for modern day house shares and coliving properties. There is rarely a week that goes by before I hear an encouraging account of housemates supporting each other and building their own little communities forging life long friendships.
A boarding house would have been a step between family life and a spring board into independence. I feel that this remains the same today. Its an opportunity to build your independence whilst venturing out into the big wide world.
There was a famous place called The Stewarts home for working women in America it was designed to house 1500 individuals! Basically a hotel. Now if you have a house share with 7 – 10 people its considered a lot! Ok, so the living standards were probably scary and I can imagine the drama’s. I’m not sure I’d even want to be the property manager either. Stewart had a vision of the hotel becoming a women’s kingdom.
Sadly the owner died just before the build of the hotel finished and Henry Hilton got his hands on it. It was a popular concept with over 75 women moving in on the first day (imagine the paperwork 🤯). Unfortunately due to the very outdated views of the new owner it was converted to just a men’s hotel (women apparently didn’t need anywhere to live) after just two months!
The point is coliving is not a fancy new trend it’s an old idea with a fresh new take. Now more than ever the positives far outweigh the negatives. Sharing a home, making new friends and building a community surely needs to be a must for 2021!
Sign up to Re:Connect and hear all things Coliving on 7th January 2021 using the following link you can sign up to sessions all throughout the day. Shameless plug, I’ll be at 4:30pm discussing how to provide a Coliving level of service from an agent perspective.
https://reconnect.unissu.com/sessions/themes/coliving
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