Check out these hot co-living spaces in Singapore

Easycity offers rates for as low as $800 per month.

With monthly rents ranging from $800-$2200 per month, co-living spaces provide an alternative housing option for Singaporeans who have long been burdened by the costly housing market in the city.

Co-living spaces allow tenants to share rooms and apartments with the aim to build relationships and interactions amongst its tenants as they are made to live with people with the same hobbies and interests. “On the offset, co-living spaces seems like a “privatised” version of communal hostels, and hover somewhere slightly below the traditional full package offered by private home rentals and service apartments,” Huttons Asia head of marketing and communications Hector Tan explained. “Some people may still prefer having the full privacy of common living areas that private apartments offer. There is that level of assuredness and freedom. Whereas in co-living spaces, one may have to share common living areas with other tenants.”

“The co-living concept and lifestyle offers an appealing alternative to millennials and professionals, thus the outlook for co-living concept appears positive," said Ong Choon Fah, CEO of Edmund Tie & Company (ET&Co).

Also read: Singapore expats burdened with lower packages and higher cost of living

This was also echoed by Rohit Hemnani, COO & head of alternatives, capital markets at JLL Asia Pacific. “In the near term, millennial expats are likely to be the main occupiers although the list of users could be expanded to include other groups such as foreign students, or even seniors as the concept could appeal to a broader age spectrum beyond expat or local millennials,” Hemnani said.

“Co-living is becoming a trend as the younger generation cherish memories and experiences as assets rather than physical ones,” Wendy Yap, owner of CP Residences said. 

Singapore Business Review compiled a list of the hottest co-living spaces in the city.

CP Residences

Locations of apartments: Orchard Road
Rate: $1,300 per month
Minimum stay: 3 months

CP Residences mainly attracted startup expats, intern students, medical clients, and some locals with the need for temporary occupancy. Yan said that they pride themselves in becoming a friend to their clients.

“There’s much more to benefit the ecosystem than just customer service because in turn, members too becomes friends between them,” Yap explained.

With 50-60 rooms leased in Singapore, their units are with fully inclusive services including utilities, wifi, weekly cleaning, laundry/ironing, ad hoc & bi-monthly community get togethers, taxes, admin paperwork such as tenancy, and processing recurring payments by various payment methods.

Aside from Singapore, CP Residences also operates co-living spaces Hong Kong and Vietnam.

Easycity

Locations of apartments: Paya Lebar, Pasir Panjang, Geylang
Rate: $800-1,800 per month
Minimum stay: 3 months

Founded in 2016, Easycity claims to be one of the first proptech startups to focus on designing, building, and operating coliving spaces in Singapore. Their property acquisition manager took careful note in choosing apartments located at city-fringe areas which are just few minutes away from the Central Business District that will be convenient for commuting and is close to eateries and other places of interests.

“Our members are mix of expats, entrepreneurs and students, large percentage of them are from the European Union,” Easycity founder Wesley Wen noted. “They are attracted by our spacious and modern spaces, convenient locations, excellent customer services, and word of mouth among their friends and co-workers.”

Easycity’s apartments have living spaces, a balcony or roof terrace to allow for a spacious layout. They also have fully equipped kitchen which is supported by maintenance and housekeeping services as well as amenities including swimming pool, gymnasium room, function room, barbeque area and 24 hours security.

Hmlet

Locations of apartments: Paya Lebar, Pasir Panjang, Geylang

Rate: starts at $1,500 (for master rooms in the East) per month

Minimum stay: 3 months

By June 2019, Hmlet will have more than 1,000 rooms opened for tenancy, Kamalski revealed to Singapore Business Review.

With common spaces such as a lounge, a pool or a rooftop, the CEO also revealed that they organise events to enable their members who are mostly expats to start their own social initiatives, from a simple Sunday brunch to birthday parties.

“For most of them, it’s their first time moving to Singapore or Asia with little to zero connections to anyone they know,” Kamalski said. “Having said that, we are seeing a growing number of locals joining our community in the last year.”

Login

Locations of apartments: Queenstown/Redhill, Novena, East
Rates: $1,200-2,200 per month
Minimum of stay: 3 months

Login takes pride in offering affordable spaces which are a good 5-8 minutes of walking away from MRT stations. Their services include weekly housekeeping and a community manager support that undertakes all tenant management issues within the spaces.

According to Sim, their apartments have been home to Asian and European expats in 20s and 30s, as well as Singapore millenials.

Also read: Takeup rate of locals rise in co-living spaces

“The Singaporeans we have in our mix are either couples waiting for their BTO to be ready or those who have spent time abroad studying, have enjoyed that independence and freedom, and now returned to Singapore to work,” Sim noted.

The Shophouse Series

Location of apartments: Geylang
Rates: $2,200 onwards per month
Minimum stay of months: 3 months

The Shophouse Series looks to offer the experience of living in a heritage home to its tenants. With approximately 750 sqft of space and an ensuite bathroom, every shophouse has a spacious fully-equipped shared kitchen and living room area on the ground floor.

“Our rates are also all-inclusive of utilities, Wi-Fi, electricity, and a membership fee for monthly community events that we curate and organise according to our tenant mix at the time,” the co-living operator said.

They noted that their tenant mix include expats from the age of 23 to 45 years old. Aside from them, the Shophouse Series have also hosted artists from Southeast Asia in Singapore for Singapore Art Week/Art After Dark at Gilman Barracks, and soccer coaches in Singapore for training.