Historically, the physical spaces made for living, working and learning have been clearly defined and often separated from each other. Home was a place for shelter, rest and leisure. Office was a place for work, meetings and coffee with colleagues. School was a place for education, study and development. The purpose and definition of these spaces have been evolving greatly in the past few years. As The Class of 2020 suggested during The Class Conference 2019 in Berlin, ‘The Future is Blended’. We’ve examined how the boundaries of these spaces have become increasingly blurred; but nothing could have accelerated this transition faster than COVID-19. 

With a pandemic in the picture, the environments in which we live, work and learn need to adapt to the changing needs and wants of their users, with an added layer of health and safety concerns. Shared living models such as student housing and coliving have the potential to thrive post COVID-19, if we do our HOMEWORK.

Many student housing operators are currently in an occupancy dilemma. A business model that boasted being recession-resistant was not pandemic-proof. Blended living models that include coliving for young professionals have managed to hold occupancy numbers due to longer leases and tenants less affected by university closures. Even though the academic year 2020/21 start date and/or the manner in which the tuition will be delivered are still in formation, in many European university cities, student accommodation and education leaders expect blended learning will dominate.

In a recent The Class of 2020 student accommodation sentiment survey, blended learning, which is defined as a combination of face-to-face and virtual learning was a clear winner, with 82% respondents choosing that option. In conjunction with this new way of learning, new models for living will need to support this change. 

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In which manner do you think the next academic year will commence?

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The new tenant demands include an increased need for health, safety and wellbeing standards. A short- term investment perspective survey suggests that COVID-19 and social distancing clearly impacted the industry’s awareness of health and safety measures with 80% of respondents anticipating a budget increase in hygiene and cleaning to secure the wellbeing of students and staff. Smart spatial design can help retrofit existing spaces to help safely manage forms of interactions in communal and private areas. Some examples include flexible spaces with no fixed furniture so that users can have a malleable living space, rerouting traffic flow and using less textured surfaces in the design. Many student housing and coliving spaces that are built with the shared living model have smaller private rooms in exchange for larger communal spaces. Leading operators have been quick to rethink the functionality of private rooms, as they need to be adapted for learning and working. This means ergonomic furniture, enhanced Wi-Fi connection and fitness amenities will become the new standard. The need for better communication and customer relationship management also stood out, as uncertainty required tenants to be connected and engaged in a different manner as well. Today’s technology has enabled a high-tech and high-touch interactive approach for resident satisfaction, with 49% of respondents in the student accommodation industry also expecting that investment in PropTech is likely or very likely to increase. For example, virtual tours have quickly replaced onsite viewings, touchless technology has proven to safely allow residents to utilise spaces, and building health is being controlled by air filtration management and smart building skins on top of strengthened virtual community activities.

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In the next 6 months, which operational areas within your organisation will likely have adjusted budget allocations due to Covid-19?

While adaptations are being made to shared living models, travel restrictions have forced operators to pay attention to the local market. During The Class of 2020 Spain Virtual Summit, 70% of 155 respondents voted that there will be more focus on accommodating local students.

However, international students are eager to return to campus. Findings from a recent Unite Student survey suggest a massive 89% of students are keen to get on campus when it’s safe to do so, and 79% said that living away from home and being on campus is as important a part of the university experience as lectures and tutorials. 

In many ways, the student housing and coliving industries share similar models and goals for accommodating global talent. When examining the implications on both these sectors, there are encouraging signs that coliving will emerge stronger from this pandemic, as operators are less reliant on the student demographic. Experts in the student housing industry also predict that the pandemic may impact the industry in the shorter-term, however, expect to rebound in 2021, with PBSA showing itself to be a resilient asset class.

Can we and shall we just wait and see? The Class of 2020 suggests a firm ‘NO’. If the industry aims to provide a true ‘home’ experience to the tenants, whether students or young professionals, we need to do our HOMEWORK. In the changing and blended environment in which we operate today and tomorrow, having a deeper understanding of the evolving needs and wants of global talents and ability to flexibly respond to them should be a core of our business model. Our homework is to move away from COVID-19 to a different Co: Collaboration - as learning should not only continue but also accelerate. The Class of 2020 believes there is huge potential for co-learning and co-creation between the student housing and coliving industries as members of shared living players. At the end of the day, the purpose of our existence (and the reason why tenants choose our properties) is to provide the tenants with the best place to call ‘home’ for living, working and learning.