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With energy-efficient design, resource sharing, and transit-friendly locations, co-living promotes sustainable living and pro-social environmental behavior.
Co-living delivers high-quality homes, revitalizes local areas, and offers relatively affordable renting, making it a valuable tool for urban regeneration and placemaking.
Co-living can foster authentic connections, creating vibrant communities built on wellbeing, openness, support, and meaningful social and cultural exchange.
Co-living is a modern form of professionally managed, rental housing which emphasises community, affordability and convenience.Â
Residents have access to private compact studios and communal spaces, which often include shared kitchens, coworking, gyms, and lounge areas (like the ones shown above at Ark Wembley and Folk Sunday Mills).
Rents are inclusive of bills, and tenancy contracts are often more flexible than traditional rental homes. Both residents and the local neighbourhood are encouraged to socialise via events programming and design to encourage social interaction. Â
Industry leaders uniting for a unique campaign around coliving
These leading industry players are supporting this research and advocacy campaign and helping advance the sector with an evidence-backed report and multimedia content. WhyCo also has support and endorsement from the British Property Federation, Cascade Communications and CBRE.Â
Conscious Coliving and participating industry leaders will present findings at leading sector events in 2025, including MIPIM, UKREiFF, and Housing 2025. Public and private sector stakeholders will be invited to learn more about this growing industry, and how co-living can be a key solution for the UK’s housing sector.
Through specialist events, co-living site visits, conference presentations and press releases, WhyCo aims to promote the benefits and value of co-living throughout the UK housing industry.
Activities thus far include an exclusive site tour for policymakers at Folk, Florence Dock; a co-living workshop and panel at MIPIM 2025, representation at the Build More Homes Summit 2025; and publications which include two long-form articles:
- Co-living: A Catalyst for Urban Regeneration, and
- Futureproof Housing: Why Co-Living is a Financially and Environmentally Sustainable Sector.
Look out too for our upcoming website launch and WhyCo Report, which will cover:Â
- Definition of Co-living: Define co-living, including typologies and terminologies
- Resident Demographics and Needs: Provide data on residents served by co-living
- Social Value of Co-living: Present evidence of social, environmental, and economic impacts
- Best Practices and Case Studies: Showcase best practices and case studies in coliving
- UK Co-living Supply and Demand: Detail macro trends and supply imbalance in key UK cities
- Barriers to UK Co-living: Explore planning, licensing, regulatory and cultural challenges
- Recommendations: Provide recommendations for planning, regulation, design, ESG, social value, and community experience
Join roundtables and panels on co-living at industry events
Stay updated about the WhyCo campaign releases
and upcoming events
We are organising exclusive roundtables, panel sessions and other opportunities for you to exchange around co-living.Â
We also have our campaign website launch scheduled for the end of Q2 2025.
Please fill out the form to hear more about the campaign, research releases and opportunities to join events.
Why Co-living? campaign co-leads
Dr Penny Clark
Director of Research & Sustainability
Conscious Coliving
Penny has a research background. Her PhD, which won a Coliving Award in 2022, explored and measured the environmental impacts of shared living communities, and she has since undertaken research on coliving for policy, industry and academic audiences. Penny has been interviewed about shared living in the BBC and the Guardian, along with having written about shared living in publications including The Developer, Coliving Insights, Conscious Cities, and the book, Urban Communal Living in Britain.
Matt Lesniak
Director of Impact & Innovation
Conscious Coliving
As an entrepreneur, community facilitator and impact strategist, Matt Lesniak works at the cross sections of the community building, impact, placemaking and shared living sectors. Matt has been a driving force behind the coliving sector for years, with a CV that includes The Collective, Co-Liv, and initiatives Coliving Insights and the Coliving Awards. Matt is a strong advocate for impact-driven coliving businesses, which embed environmental and social value throughout their communities.