Living, Differently

Pictured above: Apt. Residential’s Meadowbank scheme will include 162 Co-Living studios and 129 BTR apartments. Residents across both BTR and Co-Living will have shared access to amenities such as a co-working hub, roof terrace and resident lounge, with the development supported by a retail precinct. AUSTRALIA, OPERATIONAL CO-LIVING UNITS 4,700 13,000 UK, OPERATIONAL CO-LIVING UNITS Living, Differently The Future of Co-Living in Australia 10 11 Co-Living Supply FROM NICHE TO SCALE Australia’s Co-Living market is scaling rapidly. Savills estimates that the approximately 1,600 units currently under construction will lift operational supply to around 6,300 units by the end of 2027. Beyond this, a substantial pipeline of approved and proposed schemes could lift total supply above 13,700 units by 2030, almost three times the current operational stock, if all projects proceed. Even with this growth, Co-Living remains Australia’s most nascent institutional living sector, accounting for only around 3% of operational stock across the living sectors covered by Oxford Economics, with PBSA still dominant. Meanwhile, Build to Rent is expected to record the strongest volume growth over the next five years and represents 40% of Australia’s Living Sector pipeline. Co-Living can build on and complement Build to Rent’s growth, drawing on established development, investment and operating expertise. Mixed Build to Rent and Co-Living schemes are emerging, for example Apt. Residential’s soon to complete Meadowbank scheme, helping developers optimise site efficiency, broaden rental demand and improve returns. Co-Living is therefore forecast to increase its share of the operational living market to 5% by 2031, according to Oxford Economics. LESSONS FROM THE UK MARKET More mature markets provide a useful guide to how this growth could unfold beyond 5-year projections. The UK Co-Living market has expanded rapidly over the past decade, underpinned by many of the same fundamentals as Australia: high housing costs, constrained rental supply and strong international migration. According to Savills Research, operational stock exceeded 13,000 units in August 2026, nearly three times Australia’s completed supply, with delivery spreading beyond London to Manchester, other major cities, and commuter markets. However, the UK experience also shows that demand alone is insufficient. Growth has concentrated in locations with supportive planning frameworks, while restrictive interpretations of minimum space standards have constrained delivery elsewhere. For Australia, planning certainty will be critical to converting a strong pipeline into investable supply. The influence of current planning policy is explored further on page 18. 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 Total Co-Living Units Completed Under Construction DA Approved DA Submitted Australia's Co-Living Pipeline, by current development status Before 2020 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030+ Source: Savills Research Apt. Residential, Meadowbank