The trend of co-living spaces is picking up in Singapore.
As more startups emerge in Singapore, some people are trying the concept of working and living together with their colleagues under one roof, reported Channel NewsAsia.
Originally, such living arrangements began emerging among the startup communities in the US, but over here, an East Coast condo called ARC-II is believed to be the only existing co-living space in Singapore currently, after commercial co-living spaces 13 and Techsquat closed down in the past few years. Nevertheless, at least two more are expected to open in 2016.
ARC-II operates under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) Home Office scheme, which allows the owner or authorised occupier of a private condo to run certain types of small-scale enterprises inside the unit.
According to Low Jian Liang, the founder of travel startup Trabble, one of the firms housed in ARC-II, this type of living arrangement fosters creativity.
“Most of my friends from overseas understand the idea of a ‘hacker house’, or a co-living space, and when they visit, they want to stay here. And they are mostly working in startups. It helps in bouncing off ideas,” he said.
This kind of set-up is also suitable for those are who dedicated to making their business a success.
“We work where we sleep, and we can wake up in the middle of the night and start working. If I get a sudden epiphany, we’d start discussing,” shared Alex Foo, a coder who is set to move into ARC-II by June.
“Overall, this is more cost-efficient, compared to standard offices that typically aren’t utilised over the weekends,” said Khairul Rusydi, co-founder of Reactor, which runs ARC-II and also mentors startups.
But for this arrangement to work, they should be able to live with one another.
Other barriers to such living arrangements is space constraints and existing government rules, noted Ku Swee Yong, CEO of property firm Century 21 Singapore.
“Most apartments in Singapore are under 1,000 sq ft. There are few co-living companies who can find a large enough apartment or house that can be subdivided and yet be comfortable to all the tenants.”
“Let’s not forget that the URA has a guideline which prohibits (having) more than eight residents for a three-bedroom unit, for example. And we also have a guideline which makes it illegal to lease a home for less than six months,” he added.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
