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Property management glossary
Leasing & residents

Co-living

Also called: coliving, shared housing, co-living housing

Plain-English definition

A shared-housing model where each resident rents a private bedroom and shares the kitchen, living space, and often the bathrooms with people they did not choose.

What co-living means in practice

Co-living is an operating model, not a building type. The housing provider contracts with each resident individually, sets rules for the shared space, allocates shared utilities, and re-rents one bedroom at a time. That means occupancy, billing, deposits, access, and turnover all have to be tracked per room rather than per address.

Example

A four-bedroom house is rented to four unrelated residents on four separate agreements; the kitchen, living room, and yard are shared, and each resident has their own rent, deposit, and lease dates.

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This glossary is educational and not legal, tax, lending, or accounting advice. Rules and terminology can vary by jurisdiction and professional context.