With rental and house prices rising, co-sharing has become an increasingly popular option for those looking to keep costs down, particularly in London. In recent years, we have seen an increasing number of affordable live/work developments – combining both living spaces with a studio to work. This caters for the increasing number of entrepreneurs and start-ups looking for low-cost ways to run their businesses without the expense of commuting.

One of these is The Collective, a 323-unit development in northwest London. The building is situated canal-side and features both compact studios and 2-bedrooms apartments, with a large communal space and co-working offices below. For generation rent, The Collective provides the convenience of a hotel with a ready-made community and networking opportunities.

So what does this mean for the food and hospitality industry? In terms of new opportunities, this new form of living is very exciting. This new form of home-based working is being dubbed as a “hotel lifestyle” with live-work developments offering a range of facilities and services, including restaurants, gyms and social events, almost like a form of private members club.

Cafes and restaurants should be looking at live/work spaces as an opportunity for expansion. Whether, you set up a full service restaurant or a branded coffee kiosk within a live-work or co-living space, this new form of accommodation can bring your offering to a whole new market.

Hotels should also sit up and take note. With the traditional business centres in hotels now defunct, as a result of mobile working and WiFi, hotels need to think about how they can encourage workers to stay put or even encourage non-guests to use their hotel as a temporary base or pop-office. Whether you offer a business membership deal, that offers bookable rooms on an hourly basis, renting work stations, access to meeting rooms or special deals or food and drink, whilst working there – it’s a proposition that will appeal to anyone who is working on the go.

The food and hospitality sectors need to take note, whether that is collaborating with live/work spaces to offer your services in other developments or provide dedicated services for co-working in your own business.

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