US co-living operator Common is to bring its flat sharing platform to the UK.
It is in talks with a series of local developers and investors to develop co-living buildings in London and major UK cities.
Common claims to be the largest co-living operator in the US, and has 13,000 bedrooms in different stages of development across 20 cities.
Founder and chief executive Brad Hargreaves said: “The UK is facing a lot of similar challenges as major US cities. London in particular is facing a real housing affordability crisis. The need for co-living is real.
“We are working with a number of developers and we are very excited to expand into the UK.”
Hargreaves said Common is actively pursuing partnerships, with its first buildings expected to open in the next couple of years.
“London is a similarly sized city to New York, where we are targeting a minimum of 10,000 beds. Certainly London can support a similar scale.”
The UK expansion would also support its global operations as a tech platform for its residents. “We have the idea that we can build a team in London and they can give us more hourly coverage in the US, and vice versa.”
Hargreaves launched Common in 2015. The co-living operator currently has 1,000 operational bedrooms in 34 buildings across seven cities. It has a signed and in under development pipeline of 12,000 bedrooms in the US and Canada.
Common recently partnered with Tishman Speyer to launch Kin, a tech-driven family rental solution, and last month expanded into affordable living in New York City in partnership with L&M Developments partners.
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