How does co-living differ from running a standard HMO?

People often ask me what the difference is between running an HMO and operating a co-living shared house. It’s easy for me to answer this question. A co-living space is created with building a community in mind and customer service at its heart. It’s not just a bedroom and some shared living space. It’s about much more than accommodation alone. 
There’s a lot to be said for taking this approach, on both a personal and a professional level. It’s highly likely that my children will be living in shared accommodation at some point when they’re older. When I was looking into property investment, I was drawn to HMOs and accommodation for young professionals. Looking around at what was available in my neck of the woods, SW London, I was disappointed by what I saw. There were a lot of properties with tired, uninspiring décor, with little welcoming communal space. I wouldn’t want my kids to call somewhere like that home and I wanted to create something better.  Having done my research, I mulled over what I had seen and what the perfect young professional home should look like. By this time, I had become aware of the term co-living and loved the concept.  At that point, I created UrbanShared’s co-living manifesto – 5 goals our service must meet. 

The UrbanShared Manifesto

1. A high standard of accommodation. This is the starting point for all of UrbanShared’s properties. Not only do they need to be well maintained, but they also need to have a high standard of decoration. We want to create somewhere that our housemates are proud to call home. If the accommodation is clearly well cared for by the owner/manager, then in our experience, the residents take better care of it too. 
2. Clear and transparent rent and fees. One monthly payment for everything, including council tax and cleaning. No deposit (we use deposit-free alternative provision) and no fees. Moving to London can be very expensive and we want our housemates to know exactly what they will need to pay, before, during and at the end of our stay with us. 
   
3. Community living. It can be really tough, moving to a new house with a bunch of strangers, potentially in a new city. We want our housemates to feel part of a community, not like they’re on their own. We make sure that communal spaces are welcoming and are large enough to accommodate everyone in the house. We look at outdoor space too and optimise that for spending time together there.
   
4. A sense of belonging. We regularly run social events, for both individual houses and for everyone who lives in an UrbanShared house. Housemates can move between our properties with two weeks’ notice. It’s like being a member of a special club.
   
5. Easy communication. I created the Connected app to make communication between housemates – and with UrbanShared – free and instant. Whenever someone moves in, we send everyone in the property already a message introducing them. Housemates then usually message the new person to welcome them. The app also contains an issue reporting button, enabling us to jump on maintenance problems quickly. They can even upload a photo so we know exactly what we’re dealing with.  The app also enables housemates to buy add-in services, like afternoon tea for everyone or a chef for a night, which encourages a community feel. 

 
There is a common thread to all of the aims in our manifesto. It’s about giving our customers excellent customer service and making them happy. Not only does this make me feel content, because I know that we are affecting young people in a positive way, but it makes commercial sense. In an uncertain market, it pays to stand out – as well as being ethical.