London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Oct 18, 2025

Home Networks—Is Co-Living The New Co-Working?

Home Networks—Is Co-Living The New Co-Working?

I rather enjoyed my year of living in university halls of residence. I was eighteen years old and for someone who hadn’t previously lived away from home for anything longer than a couple of weeks, the combination of a room of my own coupled with communal living space was an ideal introduction to student life. And the communality was important. Put simply, you couldn’t help but make friends when sharing living areas and kitchen spaces.

That same desire for a kind of targeted communality seems to be underpinning the development of co-living spaces aimed at a new generation of Millennial and Generation-Z professionals and entrepreneurs—at least those who travel to distant cities for career development reasons and consequently require the kind of accommodation that will allow them to settle in quickly and focus on the job in hand.

Here in the U.K.—and particularly in London—the co-living concept has sparked something of a mini-boom in this particular space, with operators such as Mason + Fifth, Noiascape, Vonder and - slap bang in the middle of the Canary Wharf Financial District - the Collective all offering a co-living experience.

All of the above offer accommodation , along with relatively reasonable prices by London standards. There are also—and this may be part of the attraction to residents—a chance to network with others. There is, perhaps, a parallel here with the growth of co-working.

So is co-living a good option for the traveling entrepreneur and if so why? A couple of weeks ago, I spoke to Riccardo Tessaro, co-founder of Gravity Co-Living, a company that operates four properties in London.

As Tessaro explains, Gravity was set up to address a problem that he himself had encountered. “My background is in private equity,” he says. “Every time I moved to a new city, I found it hard to get accommodation-especially short-term accommodation.” Somewhere in between the very short-term-hotels-and the conventional apartments which require tenants to take out a lease for at least a year, he saw the need for something more flexible.



Mobile Workers

The rise and rise of co-working around the world has been driven by demand for flexible commercial space that also allows “members” to interact and share ideas with other entrepreneurs in open-plan settings. You could see co-living as an extension of that concept. If you work in network-friendly spaces, why not live in something similar.

Typically, co-living spaces make it easy to put down bags and get started on life in a new city from day one. Typically, the rent (aka, membership) covers the accommodation itself, plus utilities, WiFi, and local taxes, so there isn’t any need to spend time finding suppliers. You also—under normal non-pandemic circumstances - get to rub shoulders with other people in a similar situation.

In the case of Gravity Co-living, one of the key elements of the service is a community app, providing a gateway to events and services and the presence of a community manager who is there to help people make the connections they need.

As things stand, the majority of Gravity’s members fall into the “professionals” category but the company is increasingly seeking to attract entrepreneurs.

“At the moment about 25 percent of our members are entrepreneurs,” says Tessaro. “They benefit from being able to mix with other entrepreneurs but also people such as lawyers and financiers.” Tessaro also points to value-add services of particular interest to entrepreneurs, notably a partnership with payments platform Stripe.

Guni Dias is one such traveling businesswoman. Born in Switzerland but with her roots in Sri Lanka, she has worked in Hong Kong and Malaysia. As founder of Dotiv, she is building a marketplace for complementary and preventative healthcare suppliers. The business is at a very early stage and is currently in the process of testing its app. 

 

Getting Established

Coming from Hong Kong to London, Dias was looking for an easy way to establish herself in a city where renting at an affordable price isn’t always easy. She currently lives in one of Gravity Co-Living’s Camden properties. “The attraction was the flexibility,” she says. “Not having to take care of all the bills, such as electricity and council tax.” The opportunity to live in one of London’s coolest areas was also part of the appeal.

The experience in terms of networking has been more mixed—largely because of the Pandemic. “I arrived during the lockdown and it wasn’t easy,” she says. “It was been a limitation but you get out what you put in.”

Nevertheless, she says Gravity’s community management function has helped her meet some of the people she needed to connect with.

We live in uncertain times. Not only has the pandemic shut down much of the movement that usually takes place between countries, but here in the U.K., the chaotic decoupling from the European Union means that relocating to Britain from elsewhere on the continent is no longer a matter of buying a ticket, packing a bag and catching a train. Visas are now required. It's all a bit more complicated.

So is it a good time to be investing in property aimed at the peripatetic? Well, as Tessaro explains, Gravity’s approach has been to reduce the financial outlay by reaching agreements with property owners. “We decided the best way forward was to operate real estate assets on behalf of owners,” he says. “It took us a year to find the right building. We found a family office developing an HMO (multiple occupation) property.

Gravity has raised around £1.6 million and plan expansion beyond the U.K. into Europe.

But will co-living become a thing? I must admit, I was skeptical. Part of the joy of engaging with a new city is slowly but surely finding your way around and making friends through work and leisure activities. There is perhaps a danger that a carefully managed environment will cut you off from the beating heart of the wider community. That said, settling in can be a slow, painstaking, and sometimes lonely business. So for those needing place to stay and a chance to network, the co-living experience undoubtedly has an appeal. What's more, finding a peer group quickly, could provide a useful business edge. We can probably expect to see more co-living spaces across over the coming months and years.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
×