Gravity coliving opened its doors in September 2019, and then 6 months later... COVID-19! Not exactly the 6 month opening anniversary we envisioned! Everyone knows that each start-up has its ups and downs, but even the most pessimistic businessperson could not foresee this global crisis. The Gravity team immediately sat down (remotely) and set to work creating multiple scenario forecasts, outlined our Gravity COVID-19 protocol and reached out to our members to reassure them we were here to help each step of the way.

Although I cannot speak for the whole coliving sector, as each operator is unique, I wish to share our story, data and analysis, hopefully shedding some light on the market sector and the light at the end of the tunnel for coliving.

Occupancy & Demand Pre, During & Post Covid-19

Occupancy

Pre COVID-19, our occupancy was strongly situated above 90%, growing each month. This unfortunately dropped roughly 15% during the height of COVID-19. Although we are not out of the crisis yet, with travel restrictions eased and some form of normality returning, we jumped up 8% with new move-ins. We’re already seeing a positive upturn. We predict – strongly dependent on COVID-19 developments – that we should once again be at our peak occupancy by July.

Digging deeper into the reasoning for the dip in occupancy, we found 3 key areas:

1. Roughly 10% of our members are students, and due to university closures, several of them left. As an operator moving forward, we will not change our member balance, as we believe our student members help create a strong community dynamic.
2. Travel restrictions became another key reason for cancellations, with several of our members not able to reach London. We are, however, happy to see some of these members begin to rebook now that restrictions have been loosened.
3. Pre-planned move-outs. This was unavoidable and alongside the cancellations due to travel restrictions had a combined negative outcome.

Demand

With our average length of stay being 6 months, we always have our rooms advertised online, both on our website and third party sites (SpareRoom, Badi etc.). As predicted, demand dipped but it has come as a surprise how strongly it has once again grown. In some cases, it is even stronger than before.

Direct applications during the peak of COVID-19 dropped by up to 80%, but are once again increasing, although still roughly 50% less per month compared to pre COVID-19. However, we are predicting this trend to continue positively and once again reach our pre COVID-19 levels shortly.

Third party lead generation platforms also saw an 80% reduction in views during the peak of COVID-19. Interestingly however, this last week alone we have seen a 200% increase in views compared to pre COVID-19 and continue to see strong growth.

We believe this increase will become the new norm due to people – now more than ever – looking for flexible, all-inclusive, managed accommodation that reduces hassle and offers a positive work/life balance, as for many the future is uncertain and coliving is a realistic option previously not explored.

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Operational Changes Due To Covid-19

Gravity invested in our tech infrastructure from day one, as we believed a community app would add an improved level of service to our members and a key tool for data analysis. Our app allows for service requests (such as room cleaning), a communication channel, event calendar and information sharing platform. During COVID-19 this platform has been crucial for us to continue a personal service but in a safe operational format and we have seen a 30% increase in its use by our members during lockdown. Our cleaning procedures have always been a priority. During COVID-19 we maintained these standards, whilst providing additional products for our members, including gloves and face masks. We have also noticed a 20% increase in room cleaning services booked via our app. This has been an added bonus for us and helps us control and sanitise the personal spaces along with the communal areas.

As we pride ourselves on member engagement and creating true communities at Gravity, it was very important to maintain a strong activities and event calendar. We maintained the number of events to pre COVID-19 levels with 8-10 per month. What has been fantastic to see is the number of events our members have been organising. We now have a 50/50 mix of staff/member run events. An increase in attendance has also been noted during COVID-19, with an average of 30% of our members taking part in each event! Finally, with an increase in virtual and member run events, we have been able to reduce event costs by half, whilst improving overall satisfaction of our members.

Community Wellbeing During Covid-19

We recently sent a survey to our members and wanted to gain feedback on their time at Gravity during COVID-19. Below is a breakdown of the responses:

• 100% of our members stated that the community spirit has improved during lockdown
• 100% believe living at Gravity has been beneficial for them and a good place to be during lockdown
• 100% believe the management has been very good during a crisis and would recommend us
• 60% said that after this experience they would definitely move into a coliving space again, with 40% saying they would strongly consider it.

With less day-to-day interaction with our members, we did not expect such positive results. It does however highlight the important work you must put in to create true community values from the beginning. Setting this strong foundation allowed our members to be comfortable and confident to grow together and work together during times of need.

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Gravity’s Coliving Positioning

Gravity, like other operators, have big expansion plans. Pre COVID-19 we were in many advanced talks with developers and investors both locally and internationally. COVID-19 has put a slight delay on some of our plans, but more than ever we have proven the resilience of coliving and our business model, with all our current plans once again moving forward.

Opportunities in cities such as London can be difficult to find for start-ups like Gravity. However, during COVID-19 we have found many fantastic opportunities presented themselves due to the fact we focus on mid-to-long-term stays (3 months+) and see coliving as a residential product rather than short term letting strategies that have been hit hard during the crisis. We will soon also be announcing the opening of our second site in London, which we initiated talks about during the lockdown period.

There is no doubt COVID-19 slowed our progress down momentarily, but we believe more than ever this is a great opportunity for coliving operators to work on both their current community, along with finding new opportunities. We are proud to announce, since COVID-19 we have hired new staff members, found our next site and not just maintained but improved our community engagement and wellbeing.

Final Word

If you ask us at Gravity, we not only believe coliving will survive the global crisis because of its adaptability and creativity, but coliving can thrive and make a difference for its members and the wider community.

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