Lastest Data Update:
29/06/2021
The aim of the Coliving Mobile Apps Survey is to understand how operators are currently leveraging the power of mobile apps to optimise resident user and community experience. This data is part of the inputs for The Coliving Apps & Tech Guide.
This survey results page includes data analyzed from the input of 32 coliving coliving operators from over 12 countries and 18 cities, in collaboration with Co-Liv and Coliving Insights.
We will continue to collect and analyse data as more operators complete the survey. Summaries of the survey results are visualised below with the help of Google Charts.
Coliving Mobile Apps Survey: Table of Contents
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Areas Where Mobile Apps are Being Leveraged & Future Wishlist
App solutions can help facilitate a thriving community of residents that feel safe, comfortable, and connected to each other, the staff and the local community. Tech can also help make operations more efficient and create additional sources of income for coliving operators.
The survey results below show to what extent coliving operators are already leveraging app features to optimise resident user and community experience and to what extent these features are also on their wishlist.
These are labelled as “Current” and “Current & Wishlist” in the graphs below.
Making operations more efficient
Apps can help operators make the day-to-day tasks of running a coliving space more efficient. Currently, 43% of the coliving operators who responded to the Coliving Apps Survey use an app that enables residents to pay for rent and other bills. A majority of respondents (75%) use an app for announcements and notifications, and 78% for keeping track of maintenance and other issues reported by residents.
In terms of these features being on operators’ wishlist, the percentages stand at 75%, 90%, 90% and 90% respectively.
As we can see from these numbers, there is already high use and interest among many coliving operators for these types of operational features (besides the feature of accessing documents and resources which currently stands at 50% of respondents). You can read more about these features in the PMS section of the Coliving Apps & Tech Guide.
Understanding resident needs
Understanding resident needs is critical for effective community building within a coliving space. Apps can help facilitate this via polls that ask residents a variety of questions regarding food preferences, desired activities, suggestions, etc. The answers can then be gathered and analysed by staff and members to make more informed decisions about how to best meet the needs of everyone.
According to the Coliving Apps Survey, 50% of respondents said that their residents currently use an app to partake in polls. This bumps up to 78.13% when it includes those who wish this as a feature to use.
Enabling more monetization
Coliving operators can use tech to create additional sources of revenue, such as the monetisation of services, amenities, spaces, and events.
According to the survey results, 81.25% of respondents either already have their residents using or would like them to use app features to book and pay for events and services offered by the operator. 65.6% would also like residents to have a feature to book and pay for shared spaces and amenities. You can find some examples of tech solutions that offer these features in the PMS & Community Building section of the Coliving Apps & Tech Guide.
Facilitating connection and engagement among residents
Apps can help facilitate connection among residents of a coliving space. According to the Coliving Apps Survey, 40% of respondent are using an app for the resident onboarding process, while 60% use an app for private messaging and 53% use an app for resident-led events. A further 28% of respondents report that residents make use of a digital marketplace and 65% use an app for community groups.
The respective percentages that include these features on the future wishlist are as follows: 87.5%, 84.4%, 87.5% 63%, and 93%. See the Guide for examples of tech providers that include these connection-enabling features.
Facilitating connection with local community
According to the Coliving Apps Survey, 25% use an app for residents to find out about local tips and 35% to read about local news and current events. When including the respondents who would like to have these features included, the percentages are 90.6% and 59%. The Guide offers examples of such local connection-facilitating features.
Supporting a sense of “homeyness,” safety, and comfort
In terms of safety and access, 43% of the operators said that they use an app that enables digital building and room access. 72% includes those who responded that they would like to have this as an inbuilt app feature in the future. See the Guide for apps that offer features regarding digital access and security.
In terms of comfort and convenience, 65.63% and 59.38% of respondents said they are either already using or would like to be able to book and pay for cleaning and laundry services respectively via their app.
Fostering sustainable behavior change
Tech that supports sustainability efforts is playing an ever more important role in coliving spaces. 18% of operators responded that they currently are using app features that reduce negative environmental impacts. This percentage of respondents increases to 62.5% when including those who have this as a wishlist feature. The Guide covers several apps that help coliving operators adopt a more sustainable approach in their spaces and communities.
Enhancing wellbeing
Regarding wellbeing initiatives, 25% of respondents said they residents are currently using app features to book and pay for wellbeing services, while 53.13% includes the number of respondents who would like to have this feature in the future. Check out the Guide for apps that help enhance wellbeing in coliving communities.
Mobile Apps Currently Used
How much are you currently leveraging the power of mobile apps to optimise residents' user & community experience?
They survey results show that operators range widely in their sense of how much they are currently leveraging the power of mobile apps to optimise residents’ user and community experience.
Profiling Coliving Operators
The profiles of the coliving operators who answered this survey range in type of residents they accomodate, average duration of stay, and amount of buildings and beds in operation.
What type(s) of residents do you accommodate?
A majority (over 75%) of coliving operators report they typically accomodate urban professionals, singles, and digital nomads. 62.5% accomodate couples, 56.3% accomodate students and less than half (40%) accomodate travellers. Only 28% and 9% accomodate families and seniors, respectively.
How long do your residents typically stay?
Most of the respondents reported that their residents typically stay between 4 and 12 months. 28% reported that residents stay over a year and 25% said that residents stay between 1 and 3 months.
How many buildings do you operate?
36.4% of the coliving operators who responded to the survey report that they currently operate between two and four buildings. 30.3% operate one building while 21.2% operate between 6 and 20 buildings. 12.1% operatre 20+ buildings.
How many beds in total?
41.2% of respondents report having between 5 and 50 beds under operation. 29.4% have 50-250 beds while 17.6% have 250-1000 beds and 11.8% of operators report having 1000+ beds under operation.
Surveyed Coliving Operators
The data shared in this page has been verified and updated up to 18/06/2021. Up to this date, a total of 32 coliving operators have participated in the Coliving Mobile Apps Survey – a collaborative research initiative by Conscious Coliving, Co-Liv, and Coliving Insights.
The following coliving operators have given Conscious Coliving permission to share their details within this page, which includes anonymised outputs of the data gathered.
United Kingdom
Argentina, Peru
Germany
Sweden
Spain
United Kingdom
Germany
Japan, Hong Kong, Sigapore
Germany
Spain
United Kingdom
Portugal
Denmark, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Belgium
Philippines
United States, United Kingdom
United States
France
India
United States
Costa Rica
Spain
Sweden
Spain
Spain
Coliving Mobile Apps Survey: What's Ahead?
You can explore further in The Coliving Apps & Tech Guide.
If you are a coliving operator and haven’t filled it out yet, take 3 minutes and fill out the Coliving Mobile Apps Survey now!:
This survey results page will continue to be updated in batches, as new entries come in. We will also be co-creating an updated second version of the survey in collaboration with external partners over the coming months. Stay tuned!
This survey summary has been coauthored for you by:
Penny is Director of Research & Sustainability at Conscious Coliving. She has an MSc in Social Research Methods, and her PhD explores how shared living may enable lowered environmental impacts. She has consulted on numerous shared living projects, specialising in impact strategy, concept, and community. Penny has presented at conferences including the Co-Liv Summit, the Urban Living Festival, BTR360 and more. She has also authored publications in The Developer, Coliving Insights Magazine, the book Urban Communal Living in Britain, as well as being interviewed by the BBC and the Guardian about shared living.
Transformational Coach and facilitator. Trainer in mindfulness, sharing circles, and how to live and lead more consciously. Co-author of the Community Facilitation Handbook and the Coliving Apps & Tech Guide. Facilitates community engagement strategies.
Juan is a Communications Strategist, Project Manager, Systems Engineer, Team Coach and Executive Coach with an ontological/systemic approach. Co-author of the Coliving Apps, Software & Tech Guide and contributor of The Community Facilitation Handbook. He facilitates connection for individuals, teams, and communities.
