Here’s How Companies Are (Finally) Revolutionizing the Housing Industry

There's a new industry on the rise that you should know about: Housing as a Service – or HaaS.

This industry provides housing units such as villas, apartment buildings or even student cities where the residents share specific utilities while still maintaining their private spaces. It’s also known as a co-living space.

It’s all about creating communities that offer shared spaces like kitchens or dividing walls into smaller apartments so people don't need as many personal items when they move into their own place.

As this diagram from HaaS Future of Renting Millennials by Tanisha Jain demonstrates, there are certain specific aspects you share within the unit – i.e. sleeping and toilet. But the more outside you go in the diagram, the more you begin to share these utilities. Cooking, kitchen supplies, and childcare would be shared by multiple people; the guest room, meeting room, studio, workshop and living room shared by groups of people; while the most outer layer is for the public, including things like carpooling, storage space, gardening, playground, and tools.

Essentially, such a service would help decrease living costs per person in a world where affording housing becomes more and more difficult each day. Rather than paying a monthly rent or buying a house, members would pay based on usage and membership.

This new industry is helping to change the way people live and could potentially revolutionize the housing industry.

Housing as a Service is Not an Entirely New Concept

The idea that people are sharing more and doing so in a virtual space is nothing new.

Also called the “shared economy,” you can see co-working spaces where people come together to share a space to work at. Dubai has over 50 of those spaces. The same goes for ride-sharing services like Uber , Careem and Carpool Arabia. And when it comes to housing services, businesses like Airbnb and Beehive have kicked off with a large audience in the region.

In terms of co-living, it was not uncommon for people to exclusively rent beds, especially as housing prices creep higher and higher. 

China and India are two countries that have been implementing the concept of shared housing for years already.

HaaS Companies Around the World

We share goods and services now more than ever, and we’re seeing this concept in housing companies around the world as well. 

Here are some examples of HaaS companies.

👉 Common Living is a community-driven residential company that brings community, convenience, and flexibility to housing across a number of US states. The HaaS company partners with US-based brands to give the space’s members exclusive discounts and perks.

Funding: $113.4M (Series D)

👉 Combining shared spaces, The Collective is a property company where a diverse community of people can rent housing for a few nights or a couple months while connecting with one another and develop their skills through events. 

Funding: N/A

HaaS Companies in MENA and Pakistan

Because of skyrocketing living costs, millennials in the region have taken an interest in HaaS, giving a reason for investors to see potential for profit.

The trend is still a relatively new concept in the region so I haven’t seen too many projects, but here are some ideas that are in the works.

👉 The Collective – which I mentioned above – is present in Dubai with 400 units sold in one day. The company has since kicked off new co-living projects across Dubai.

👉 Pakistan-based MyGhar offers shared residences for young professionals, interns and students.

Filling the Gap

Global funding for co-living continues to increase, reaching more than 210% from 2015 to 2019. The trend has amassed more than $3.2 billion, with $800 million invested in co-living companies.

Investors see a return on their funding, plus the supply and demand gap is being bridged while trends create huge opportunities across new markets.

Because of its city-like qualities, Dubai has been attracting investors keen to invest in such an international location with great potential for growth.

With Dubai’s large expat workforce, co-living is appealing to those in the city who don’t want to spend all their money on rent. People want affordable rent with high-quality accommodation and facilities.

And the global trend towards co-living will help accommodate that.

The trend of co-living is definitely on the rise, with more and more people looking for ways to save money and simplify their lives. I believe that co-living is here to stay and would love to chat with you about how you can get involved.

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If you or someone you know works in the HaaS or co-living sector, send me a message! I’d love to connect and see how we can help each other achieve success.

And don’t forget to share this newsletter edition with others who might benefit from it.

See you next time. 👋🏻