Co-Living Properties

"An attractive and secure rental income stream for our clients whilst providing quality, convenient and value for money accommodation for our tenants"

What is the Co-Living HMO Sector?

The co-living sector comprises rental properties which offer individual rooms with shared communal facilities such as kitchens and dining areas.
​As a result of multiple tenants, the rental yields may be substantially higher than in single-family residences.

Properties in the sector include HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation), student accommodation blocks, and short-term serviced accommodation units. They all have one thing in common: Individual rooms with shared communal space.

Most people associate the co-living sector with HMOs. Such properties have historically been plagued by rogue landlords offering sub-standard accommodation.

However, in 2018 the government introduced legislation requiring all properties occupied by five or more people from different households to have an HMO license and meet the required standards.

This new legislation caused many amateur landlords to exit the market. As a result of this, and despite there being an ongoing housing shortage, the number of HMOs in England has fallen by 3% from 511,278 in 2019 through 2020, to 497,884 in 2020 through 2021.

To attract a ‘quality’ tenant, i.e. someone who is gainfully employed with the capacity to comfortably pay the agreed rent, the co-living HMO has to offer adequate space and better facilities. Quality properties attract skilled workers, nurses, and office staff as well as a host of blue-collar occupations.

Co-living HMO tenants are typically aged between 20 and 40 years of age and, in a quality property, live there for a year.

The vast majority of co-living HMO properties are fully furnished and tenancies are typically offered on a ’bills inclusive’ basis. This means the gross rental appears very attractive compared to other properties, but the landlord is responsible for costs such as council tax, energy costs, and repairs.
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Our Co-Living and HMO Properties

Before entering the co-living HMO sector in 2019 we conducted extensive research and it was clearly evident that the sector lacked a market leader and a nationally recognised brand. It was dominated by small regional operators who owned less than ten, typically smaller, properties. The majority of these were of low quality, with non-en-suited rooms and poor ongoing property management.

We set out to create the St David brand and be the ‘biggest and best co-living HMO operator in the UK’. Whilst we now have over thirty properties within our operation, we have a long way to go yet.

To distinguish the properties, we decided to call them acols (a co-living property).

We decided that all our acol properties/rooms had to be of a uniform standard. This meant creating an expectation with our clients/landlords and tenants, in much the same way that hotels operate.

Importantly, if we were going to put the St David name on our properties, we had to be proud of them and confident they would produce the results we promised. We have spent many years building a reputation and want our acol properties to further enhance this.

With this in mind, we are proud to offer:

  • Totally refurbished, high-quality co-living HMOs.
  • Larger properties comprising up to thirty rooms: All en-suited, fully furnished rooms (with everything a tenant needs, including flat-screen TVs, bedding, cutlery, etc).
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Peace of Mind

   
For our acol opportunities, we are able to offer fully tenanted properties and also the option of having St David as the master tenant.

After many years of operating, we know and understand the UK rental market and we are confident that our acol properties will perform in line with our projections.

We financially benefit from our management fees and our clients enjoy peace of mind. We believe it is a win-win scenario for both parties.

 

For information on how you can acquire one of our acol co-living properties, click below.