Coliving attracts young people - Le Figaro

A garden with a beautiful wooden terrace, some plantings, and a large 350 m² house furnished in a cozy style. This is the Casa du Cinéma, one of the eleven houses of La Casa coliving, an operator that transforms suburban houses into coliving spaces. Akira, Coralie, and Malorie, aged 28 and 31 respectively, live in this building in Créteil (Val-de-Marne) with eight other people for over a year. They illustrate the desire not to live alone and to simplify life.

"What appealed to me was the social aspect, while still maintaining a degree of privacy," says Malorie, a credit manager at a phone refurbishment company. Indeed, unlike regular flatshares, each resident has a bathroom and toilet attached to their room. Here, the colivers share two carefully decorated living rooms, a dining room, a large fully equipped kitchen, a cinema room, a terrace, and a laundry room.

"I worked remotely throughout the entire lockdown and really made the most of the garden. Luckily, we were all here together. It wouldn't have been possible alone. Here, we cooked, exercised... We got to know each other better, it brought us closer," adds the young woman.

Akira, who arrived from Brazil in 2019, chose coliving to integrate and become familiar with French culture: "I made friends and, during the lockdown, being in a group calmed me down," says this engineering intern in construction.

The "all-inclusive" aspect and easy access appealed to him: "When you're a foreigner, completing a rental application is very difficult. Here, the process was simple, they put us in touch with a company that acts as a guarantor...". The price, €935, may seem high to many, but not to the colivers.

"Before, I lived in Gentilly and paid €915 for 32 m². Here, for roughly the same price, I have access to much more space and everything is included: electricity, water, internet, Netflix, not to mention cleaning twice a week. It seemed reasonable to me considering all the services," says Malorie.

Colivers also receive a monthly allowance of €130 for common expenses (Editor's note: condiments, toilet paper, cleaning products...) and the delivery of a basket every two weeks to share a meal together. And even though Coralie, who has been here since the beginning, lost her job as a documentalist since the first lockdown, she has no intention of leaving: "Since I earn €1,300, my family helps me. Here, I have support, there's an atmosphere, a dynamism... It brings me a lot."