Multi-generational living: A new wave in the co-living ecosystem – Construction Week Online India

The pandemic has altered several aspects of our lifestyle. It has also accelerated many trends that were expected to go mainstream a few years into the future. Multi-generational co-living is one such global trend.

Right from senior citizens and retirees to middle-aged couples and new parents to migrant youth, generations are seeing the benefits of opting for co-living residences catering to a multigenerational community rather than owning or renting houses. Affordability, short-term commitment, thoughtfully-designed spaces, safe environments, and easy access to relevant hyper-local ecosystems are just some factors driving this transformation.

New normal

Unlike co-living 1.0, which was seen as a way of life by digital nomads, single women, entrepreneurs, live-in couples, and students, co-living in the new normal is about multi-generational communities. Think co-living spaces designed for interdependent living arrangements for the young and old.

In India, co-living has seen massive adoption owing to the pandemic. Houses that offer maximum comfort and convenience at minimal cost and commitment are no longer just great alternatives, but necessities as we emerge from uncertain times. This reality is acute when we consider that affordable housing has been a consistent challenge in India, and 65% of its population is under 35 young and always-on-the-move.

Non-resident Indians too, unable to fly down and offer emotional assurance to their parents in times of crisis, have found a safety net for the seniors in multi-generational co-living spaces. All of these have led to the rise of cross-generational residences within the emerging co-living ecosystem.

Sense of community

The pressures of daily work life, social isolation, and financial stress are just some key factors that have given further rise to the trend in the last one year. Working professionals, especially young parents, have been finding it challenging balancing household chores while working from home more so in the absence of familial support systems.

Globally, these new realities are seeing stressed professionals, living away from their extended families, finding a helping hand in co-living community members. Aged individuals and couples have found comfort in home-cooked meals from their co-living companions. Co-living is in its true sense forming an intentional community wherein the purpose is to share resources, create family-oriented neighborhoods, and live an ecologically sustainable lifestyle.

The Covid-19 outbreak has seen the older populations struggling with growing loneliness, anxiety, and elevated health risks, coupled with limited adoption of technology, while younger people have been battling financial stress as well as personal and professional angst. The newfound interdependency offered by multi-generational co-living is a win-win - there is room for choice as well as the excitement of building new bonds. Unlike our ancestors who were mostly duty-bound to spend their lives in multi-generational homes without much say, co-living urban Indians are building communities rooted in flexibility and mutual respect.

Room for growth

Even after the pandemic wanes, work from home and a hyper-local preference are expected to become part of mainstream preferences. This is where co-living spaces will offer significant advantage over other forms of housing.

In the case of white-collar migrants, the appeal of housing that offers multi-generational community living, professional networking opportunities, walk-to-work convenience, and the option of moving and packing overnight to turn up in a new city for the next big career opportunity, will be stronger than ever before. Other generations too, will have their reasons to consider co-living. For example, senior citizens will continue to spend more time indoors and hence seek housing options that are safe, and will allow them to bond with other people.

These benefits become even more obvious when we consider the challenges with traditional rental housing alternatives leased houses and the unorganised PG system. Renting a house translates into high rentals, huge capital investment, and long-term commitment. Additionally, the houses are often in bad shape, unsafe, and unappealing to the upper-middle class Indians sense of aesthetics.

Shaping the future

Countries like the United States and Finland were among the first to see the merit in investing in multi-generational co-living spaces, much before the pandemic kicked-in. The global trend augurs well for a growing preference for multi-generational living.

Indias pre-existing housing challenges, along with the new pandemic realities, are poised to make co-living a smart solution to Indias residential woes. Future growth in this evolving segment will be led by co-living spaces that address social rental housing, need-based rental housing, and market-based rental housing demands to cater to diverse mindsets, multiple generations, and different workforces.

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Multi-generational living: A new wave in the co-living ecosystem - Construction Week Online India