Micro-apartment trend on the rise

With interest rates still close to the highest in more than a decade and city centre rents climbing relentlessly, young South African professionals are being forced to rethink traditional housing.

- PROPERTY WRITER

Lew Geffen Sotheby's International Realty CEO Yael Geffen says the rapid rise of co-living spaces and micro-apartments in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban has sparked a heated debate: Is this innovative urban adaptation, or merely a symptom of the country's broken economy?

The co-living revolution: Affordable or compromised living?

Developers are aggressively repurposing underutilised buildings into shared living hub where tenants trade private space for affordability and community.

In Cape Town's Woodstock and Johannesburg's Braamfontein, companies like The Student Hub and CoLiv report waiting lists for their R6 500 to R8 000 a month rooms that include servicing and wi-fi.

"This is a necessary market correction right now when consumers are drowning in debt and the vast majority are battling to keep heads above water," says Ms Geffen.

"For most young professionals buying a home is an impossible dream at the moment with the cost of living remaining so high. In fact, they're even being priced out of conventional rentals, but they still need proximity to urban work hubs.

"Co-living fills that gap intelligently by optimising space and reducing costs through shared amenities."