If you hadn’t heard, London is the most expensive city in the world, with rent and commute costs taking the lead on our excessive outgoings. It’s therefore unsurprising that Londoners are continually attempting to discover new ways of saving money. This has most recently resulted in the concept of shared live-work spaces, where young (or not so young, we assume) Londoners can meet like-minded people, boost productivity – and slash costs.
‘Co-living’ has been described as “an imaginative, modern response to high housing costs and commuting hassles”, while also chiming with the green agenda and concerns about work-life balance. It enables Londoners to live and work under the same roof and to be part of a like-minded group where you share space and facilities. Now, before you begin having visions of naked hippie communes and anarchist collectives setting up camp in central London, it’s important to note that this is not a revival of the 1960s. Rather, it is a collaboration between Peabody, the housing charity and The Trampery, which provides “incubator” work studios for design and digital start-up companies, freelancers and early stage entrepreneurs.
The boom in self-employment is fuelling demand for live-work property. The number of Britons working from home rose from 800,000 to 4.2 million during the last decade. A Confederation of British Industry survey shows more than 50 per cent of companies allow staff to occasionally work at home, believing this boosts productivity. The average London commuter faces a 38- minute journey to the office every day – that is 227 hours per year – and spends more than £2,000 a year on travel costs. This concept will attempt to battle such extortion, with spaces in various locations across London, including Fish Island Village and Tottenham. Hurrah!