A resident or 'member' relaxes in a library communal space with books all donated by other tenants to share at The Collective co-living building in west London, on Aug 14, 2017. (Reuters photo)

Co-living, a term used to describe a living arrangement that is something more than shared space, is growing in Asia, according to a property consulting firm.

Typically, a co-living space offers tenants small rooms and shared facilities such as a TV room or a gym. There is also a social aspect — some facilities have a manager who organises events.

As well as convenience and community, co-living facilities also claim to offer cheaper rent than an individual apartment.

Hong Kong is seeing a growing number of co-living developments — unsurprisingly given its status as the world’s most expensive housing market. Young workers face the prospect of living with their family until they can afford to buy a small flat; "small" often means less than 200 square feet.

At present, some developments described as co-living are no more than upmarket dormitories for budget-conscious students, while others are just shared apartments with different branding.

However, Denis Ma, head of research at JLL Hong Kong, says: "There are some really interesting projects that will be opening soon where the communal space is quite significant and the operator has hired an activities officer to bring residents closer together."

Recent co-living developments include Gaw Capital’s Campus Hong Kong in Tsuen Wan, which offers a gym and pool as well as common areas in a 12-storey building and SynBOX in Hung, M-Living in Wong Chuk Hang, which offers tiny (80-100-square-foot rooms) with shared common areas, inclusive bills and cleaning facilities.

Campus Hong Kong’s extra facilities do not come cheaply: a private room costs HK$20,000 per month.

In China, the co-living trend fits with Beijing’s desire to build a residential rental market, which will boost labour mobility by allowing graduate workers to live in first-tier cities such as Shanghai, where property costs have soared.

Operators such as You+, 5Lmeet and Mofang Gongyu — which has received funding from Warburg Pincus — house thousands of tenants in hundreds of buildings.

In Singapore, affordable public housing is available to a large portion of the population and perhaps due to this, there is only a small portion of rental housing or co-living establishments, says Regina Lim, head of capital markets research for Singapore at JLL. "One could argue the Singapore case study implies that co-living is born only in cities where housing is unaffordable."

Some Singaporean companies are testing the water: CapitaLand’s serviced residence unit, The Ascott Limited, has created a new co-living brand "lyf", which claims to be "designed and managed by millennials, for millennials.

"Five properties across China, Singapore and the Philippines are slated for opening from this year to 2021. Lyf Funan Singapore will be part of CapitaLand’s integrated development Funan, which also includes retail, office and coworking spaces.

In Tokyo, apartment space is not cheap, but years of deflation have been good for renters and so far the city has seen the development of only a few co-living spaces.

Roam, in Akasaka, offers tenants a 340-square-foot room with a balcony. Shared spaces include a co-working space, multiple meeting rooms, a circus-themed workout and Yoga room, and a shared commercial kitchen.

Rooms can be leased for as little as a day and with a monthly cost of around US$3,000, Roam — which also has facilities in Miami, London and Bali — is closer to a serviced apartment than a space for long-term living.

In Thailand, there are a number of small co-living facilities in Bangkok and key resort cities such as Chiang Mai, Phuket and Krabi. However, most of these facilities are targeted at foreign digital nomads and compliment co-working spaces.  

"For most Thais, shared living space may not be a preferred option as there remain other affordable housing options that offer higher privacy. This explains why co-living has not yet become a big thing in Thailand’s real estate. However this will change in the near future," says Suphin Mechuchep, managing director at JLL.

"As city condos and apartments are getting smaller and less affordable, it will become more difficult for young workers to buy or rent a private living space. In addition, these young workers are millennials who grew up in the sharing economy, value being part of a like-minded community and thus tend to be more willing to share facilities. The growing popularity of co-working exemplifies this trend well," says Mrs Suphin.

"This will open up new opportunities for real estate developers and investors in Thailand, particularly Bangkok," she adds.