Western Daily Press (Saturday)
How the co-living concept could help prevent isolation within city centres
There’s a revolution afoot about how people live in city centres. Next week Bristol City Council will decide on two planning applications which aim to create communities within buildings. reports
THE start of a completely new way of providing homes for people in Bristol is about to begin, as two large developments of “co-living” accommodation are set to be given permission by councillors next week.
The co-living concept is effectively shared communal flats in high-rise developments that are similar to purpose-built student accommodation – but for anyone.
Someone living in one has a private individual room and shared kitchen, dining and living areas in clusters.
While much of the discussion about the two big planning applications has so far been about the height of the buildings, the two developments which are now recommended for permission will fire the starting gun on what looks set to become the new way of living in the city centre and beyond, into the secDown ond half of the 2020s and into the 2030s.
The first co-living accommodation system opened in a converted building in Old Market 18 months ago and 107 people live in it. But now planners are set to approve Bristol’s first custom-built co-living accommodation on a much bigger scale, with two huge developments in the city centre, even though the size of the individual accommodation is as much as half the national minimum space standard for someone’s private home.
One plan will see the Premier Inn hotel demolished and a big new development in its place between the Bearpit and the bus station. There, developers will build accommodation for 432 students in tower blocks between 15 and 28 storeys high, and a separate tower block 18 storeys high which would provide co-living for 142 people.
the road at the Rupert Street NCP car park, an even bigger co-living revolution is taking place. The firm that created Bristol’s first, but smaller-scale, co-living accommodation at Unity Street in Old Market in October 2022 wants to demolish the car park and build one tower block for 328 students and another which would provide co-living housing for 249 people.
The developer at Rupert Street has already opened Bristol’s first, albeit smaller, co-living facility, in the Zinc Works in Old Market.
“The accommodation is typically, but not solely, lived in by young professionals and key workers, such as nurses, who have finished university but who still want the communal living experience, and who would otherwise choose to live in a flat share in a privately rented house,” the council planning report said.
”Within the applicant’s existing co-living scheme at Unity Street, Old Market (Zinc Works), out of the 107 co-living residents, 60 per cent are aged 21-25 years old, and 80 per cent of residents are aged between 18-30 years old. Only 15 per cent are aged 30 years old and older. The gender split is 58 per cent male and 42 per cent female, and nationalities are diverse, with over 20 different nationalities. Those who are British make up 51 per cent of the residents,” the report added.
Studio Rooms at the Zinc Works are listed on its website as starting at £1,252 per month.
“Co-living is becoming a highly popular model across the UK, offering a more affordable option compared to renting a one-bedroomed apartment. It can help take pressure off the wider housing stock, particularly HMOs,” said a spokesperson for Olympian Homes, which wants to develop the Premier Inn site at the Bearpit.
“Resident studios include a double bed, kitchenette and bathroom. The co-living building also has extensive shared social and workspaces, gym, resident cinema and other facilities like a laundrette. Each floor has a shared balcony, as well as a single, large roof terrace,” he added.
The accommodation is typically, but not solely, lived in by young professionals and key workers, such as nurses, who have finished university but who still want the communal living experience COUNCIL PLANNING REPORT
“Long-established in US and increasingly across UK, co-living can help create communities within buildings and prevent isolation,” he added.
The rooms are designed for a single-bed household, and have a double-sided bed, a two-ring cooking hob, desk and wardrobe space, and an en-suite shower room. Kitchen facilities and living and lounge space would be provided in communal areas.
“This is fundamental to the concept of co-living accommodation,” said the council report. “Each room cannot be self-contained, otherwise it would cease to be co-living accommodation and would be ‘traditional’ housing.
Co-living as a concept is already being introduced in London, Birmingham and Manchester, with large-scale developments that house hundreds of people.
In those cities, their planners introduced new policies which took co-living developments out of the existing rules about how small one person’s home should be.
The Government’s policy for the national minimum standard for the size of a person’s home is 37sqm, but there are concerns nationally that co-living accommodation would mean people live in much smaller homes.
The report from Bristol City Council’s planning department to councillors ahead of next Wednesday’s meeting confirms that the size of the individual co-living accommodation
at the Rupert Street site will be an average of 19.8 sqm, with rooms ranging from 18sqm to 28.4sqm.
At the Premier Inn development, the rooms range from 17.3sqm to 29.7sqm, and the average size is slightly bigger, at 21.3sqm. When the internal and external community space is added up and divided by the number of people who will be living there, the total is 29.7 sqm per resident.
When the developers of the Rupert Street site first applied for planning permission, they asked Bristol City Council’s planning department to come up with a new planning policy specifically for co-living accommodation, which would lower that minimum standard to allow such developments.
Last May, Pegasus, the firm behind the Rupert Street plan, told the council it had to come up with new guidance to allow developers to create co-living, because otherwise it would not be economically viable to provide large communal areas to make up for the small rooms.
“Clearly this is excessive, and beyond what any purpose-built coliving accommodation can reasonably provide,” the Pegasus report to the council said last May. The city council’s standards also said each home has to have 5sqm of outside space too.
“While this might be an appropriate amount for a self-contained flat,” argued Pegasus last year, “it is excessive for shared living accommodation and beyond what could reasonably be delivered. It is considered that the 1.6 sqm per resident amount provided is acceptable,” before adding that in London, new guidance to facilitate more co-living spaces has set the bar even lower, at 1sqm per resident.
Now, the council planners’ report to the committee makes no mention of this. Instead, councillors will be told that the council brought in a “practice note” in 2021 which said that national space standards “are not applicable for co-living accommodation”.
Olympian Homes confirmed Bristol City Council has not introduced any specific policies for co-living developments. As well as the one in Old Market already set up, and the two in the city centre which will be decided on next week, there are other plans for co-living projects in Bedminster and in Broadmead.
“While there are no national planning policies for co-living, Greater London Authority does have space standards for co-living studios, which the proposals comfortably meet,” said a spokesperson for Olympian.
“The average size of each studio across the scheme is 21.3m, with an additional 6.65m of shared amenity space. In London, the studios are expected to meet or exceed 18sqm with an additional 5sqm of amenity space,” he added.
The developer of the Premier Inn site said that, overall, it will improve the area around the Bearpit and the bus station.
Oliver d’Erlanger, from Olympian Homes, said: “Clearly the site needs redeveloping. Everyone knows what a hostile and rundown place this has become. This shouldn’t be what people arriving at – and departing from – Bristol bus and coach station should be welcomed by.
“So, we are proposing to completely transform the whole site, with the ground floor on a single level, and two-thirds of the site used for really high-quality and attractive public open space,” he said.
“All ground-floor spaces within the two buildings will have active frontages, with a cafe in the centre of the scheme, and residents looking out over all public spaces.
“It will become a safe and attractive place for everyone, whether they are using the bus station, passing through the site, or living in the two new buildings.
“This is the perfect location for city-centre living. The development is a short walk to Bristol Royal Infirmary and the co-living homes would be ideal for newly trained nurses, doctors and other key workers,” he said.
“It’s also a real boost for struggling Broadmead; bringing people to live, work and socialise in the city centre is the best way to regenerate it.
“We’ve worked hard with council officers and other local stakeholders to ensure this mixed-used regeneration provides as many benefits to the city as possible. That, of course, includes 26 affordable homes as well as the huge public realm investment,” he added.