Landing in London without a fixed address sorted is more stressful than it sounds, and coliving in London is usually the reason it works out anyway. Six month minimum tenancies, a stack of agency paperwork, and landlords who want a UK guarantor before they will even reply to an email make the traditional route slow for anyone just arriving. Coliving skips most of that: a furnished private room, bills folded into one payment, and a house full of people who are also new to the city.
London coliving has grown into a genuine scene of its own, spread from the docklands in the east to quieter streets out west and a scattering of options right in the middle. This guide covers four verified of the best coliving spaces in London, what daily life is actually like in each one, and how to pick a part of the city once the room itself is sorted.
Quick summary
Coliving in London pairs a furnished private room with a ready-made community, which is exactly why it works so well for expats and long-term digital nomads settling into the city. This guide breaks down four verified coliving spaces in London, from a large amenity-packed tower in the docklands to a quieter house near Heathrow, and shows how to pick the part of the city that suits your routine.
In this article
Why coliving works so well in London
Renting in London the traditional way usually means a guarantor with a UK income, a deposit plus a month up front, and letting agency fees that can add hundreds of pounds before you have even seen a viewing. Coliving houses rent to you directly instead. The room comes furnished, and the monthly rate typically folds in utilities, wifi, and a cleaning service for the shared spaces, so there is one bill instead of five.
Contracts also flex with how long you are actually staying. Most coliving operators in London offer stays from a few weeks up to a year or longer, which suits long-term digital nomads and expats who know they want six months in the city but are not ready to sign a two-year lease on a flat they have never seen in person.
Most coliving houses also do some of the social groundwork before you arrive, from a weekly dinner to a rooftop social, so residents already half know their housemates before they have finished unpacking. Picking a good coliving space in London mostly comes down to matching a part of the city and a house rhythm to how you actually want to spend your evenings, which the next section covers in more depth.
Best coliving spaces in London
These four names come up most often when people search for the best co living London has to offer for a long stay, so here is what living in each one is actually like.
ARK Canary Wharf sits on the water in Canary Wharf, the docklands neighbourhood most people picture when they search for co living east London, and is one of the biggest coliving buildings in Europe. Rooms are private ensuite studios with a kitchenette and a proper desk, and residents get access to a gym, an indoor pool, a cinema room, and a rooftop terrace, with regular events aimed squarely at the remote workers and nomads who make up a good share of the building. It is a short walk from Crossharbour DLR station, with Canary Wharf itself about fifteen minutes on foot.
Over in Old Oak, West London, The Collective Old Oak was one of the very first large scale coliving communities to open in the city and still runs at a genuinely big scale. Studios come with a private bathroom and kitchenette, and the shared spaces stretch to a spa, a games room, a library, and several themed dining rooms, alongside co-working lounges residents actually use during the day. Willesden Junction Overground station is a short walk away, with Central London under twenty minutes by train.
Gravity Co-Living, now trading as Gravity Co, runs its main coliving building in Hounslow Central, five minutes’ walk from the tube and a short hop from Heathrow. Studios are ensuite with a small kitchenette, the monthly rate includes a gym membership, and residents mention the regular social events as the reason the house feels less like a block of flats and more like a shared home. It is a smaller scale, quieter option with lower monthly rates, which suits anyone who wants coliving without a lot of amenities to navigate.
For something more central, Co Living London is a specialist agency rather than a single building, matching people with mid to long-term rooms across Marylebone, Fitzrovia, and other central postcodes. It is a useful route for anyone who wants a proper co living space London flatshare feel, with a private room in a shared house rather than a studio in a purpose-built tower, and a team that handles viewings and contracts on your behalf.
The four line up quite differently on scale and room setup, so here is how they compare at a glance.
| Place | Room setup | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| ARK Canary Wharf | Ensuite studios, gym, pool | Nomads who want big amenities |
| The Collective Old Oak | Ensuite studios, shared dining rooms | Long stays, established community |
| Gravity Co-Living Hounslow | Ensuite studios, shared lounge | Quieter, budget-conscious stays |
| Co Living London | Rooms in shared houses | Central postcodes, flatshare feel |
If scale and amenities matter most, ARK Canary Wharf and The Collective Old Oak are the two names to start with, while Gravity Co-Living and Co Living London suit a quieter or more central stay.
Finding a co living space in the right part of the city
East London, especially Canary Wharf and the docklands, works well for people who want a fast commute into the City and do not mind a more corporate, high-rise feel in the evenings. It is the part of town most associated with co living east London searches, mostly because of buildings the scale of ARK Canary Wharf.
West London, out towards Old Oak and Hounslow, tends to be quieter and a little easier on the wallet, with faster links to Heathrow if your work or your family means regular flights. Our guide to the best areas to stay in London as an expat goes further into how the different parts of the city compare beyond coliving specifically.
Central London, through an agency such as Co Living London, suits anyone who wants to be walking distance from most things without committing to a purpose-built tower. Picking a co living space in London usually comes down to two things: how much you want built into your day, and how far you are willing to commute for it.
Settling in once the room is sorted
A coliving house solves the housing half of moving to London, and it usually comes with an instant circle of housemates too. Most residents still end up wanting a wider social life beyond the people they happen to be living with, especially once the novelty of the building wears off after the first few weeks.
On days when a change of scenery helps, the coworking spaces in London are worth pairing with a coliving stay, especially if the house does not have a proper desk setup of its own. Between the coworking and coliving scene, remote workers in London rarely have to choose between a decent desk and a comfortable place to sleep.
If building a social life feels like the harder part of the move, our tips on how to make friends in London dig into where locals and internationals actually meet beyond the coliving house. And if London is not quite the fit, or you are simply curious how the model plays out elsewhere, our guide to coliving in Barcelona covers a different city with its own version of the same idea.
A shortcut for meeting people beyond your coliving housemates
Once the room is sorted, Friendchise is a natural next step for meeting people beyond your coliving housemates. You can join plans built around coffee, lunch, or dinner, or share your own plan and pick who you want to meet.
Profiles show people’s interests beforehand, so you already have something to talk about before you sit down, and it works whether you want a one to one coffee or a bigger group dinner with a mix of locals and internationals.
Between a coliving house that already feels lived in and a city that rewards anyone willing to show up, London starts to feel a little more like home faster than the first week would have you believe.
On days you want a change of scenery from the coliving house, here are the best work cafés in London.
