If you have been looking at property investment options in Victoria, you may have come across two terms that are not always well understood: co-living and triple living. Both are purpose built investment models designed to generate higher rental income than a standard house or unit, but they work in different ways. This guide explains what each product actually is, how the income works, and who tends to suit each one.
Co-living is a purpose built, fully furnished home designed for three to five independent tenants living under one roof. Each tenant has their own private, locked bedroom and ensuite, so there is no sharing of bathrooms. What tenants do share are communal spaces such as the kitchen and living areas.
Because you are renting by the room rather than renting the whole house to one tenant or one family, co-living can lift your total rental return well above what a single tenancy would generate from the same property.
Triple living takes the multiple income idea a step further. Instead of one home with shared communal areas, a triple living property is built as three fully independent living units, sometimes called villas, all sharing a single structure and, importantly, a single property title.
Each of the three units comes with its own private bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living area. Tenants do not share a kitchen, a living room or a laundry with anyone else in the building. In effect, you own three complete, self contained homes on one block of land, under one title.
A well specified triple living build typically includes:
Because everything sits on one title, you are also only carrying one set of council rates and, at purchase, paying stamp duty on one property rather than three. That is a meaningful saving compared with buying three separate titled units to get the same three income streams.
| Co-Living | Triple Living | |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | One home, multiple tenants | Three independent units, one structure |
| Bedrooms and bathrooms | Private and locked per tenant | Fully private per unit |
| Kitchen and living areas | Shared communal spaces | Private to each unit, never shared |
| Title | One title | One title |
| Income streams | Multiple, by the room | Multiple, by the unit |
| Best suited to | Investors wanting maximum yield from one build | Investors wanting privacy plus multiple incomes, or owner occupiers |
Both models are built around the same principle: more than one income stream from the one piece of land reduces your vacancy risk. If one tenant moves out of a co-living home, the other rooms are still generating rent. If one unit in a triple living property is vacant while you find a new tenant, the other two units are still earning. Your property is not sitting at zero income while you wait for it to fill.
This is one of the reasons ACIGP’s target yields for both co-living and triple living sit between 8% and 10%, compared with roughly 3% to 5% for a standard residential rental. These figures are targets based on current market conditions at the time of writing, not a promise of what any individual property will return, and ACIGP does not guarantee investment returns.
For context, the average interest rate on an investment loan is currently sitting somewhere around six to seven and a half percent. A property earning toward the top of the 8% to 10% target range gives you a meaningful buffer above that cost of borrowing, which is part of what makes these models attractive to investors right now.
Co-living suits investors who want to maximise yield from a single build and are comfortable with tenants sharing a kitchen and living space, similar to a well run share house but purpose built and professionally managed.
Triple living suits investors who want the multiple income benefit without any shared living, cooking or laundry space between tenants. It also suits owner occupiers: some investors choose to live in one of the three units themselves while renting out the other two, combining a place to live with two income streams from the same title.
Both products can suit investors building a portfolio, since a single triple living title with three tenancies, or a single co-living home with three to five tenancies, can often generate more usable income per dollar of land than several separate standard rental properties, while keeping council rates, insurance and land tax to one title.
ACIGP builds in Victoria. It remains one of the more affordable states to build in and is currently the largest growing state in the country, which supports long term rental demand. ACIGP builds in strategic locations that offer schooling, amenities and local employment, because those are the fundamentals that keep a rental market healthy over time.
For triple living specifically, regional centres such as Ballarat and Bendigo stand out. Land in these areas tends to be larger and more affordable than metro Melbourne, which suits a design built around three separate living areas, while still giving tenants access to jobs, schools and services.
Most lenders will ask for at least a 20% deposit on an investment property loan. ACIGP’s property packages typically start from around $750,000 and range upward from there, and you will need to budget for stamp duty and associated purchase costs on top of the deposit. A licensed broker can walk you through exactly what that looks like for your circumstances and borrowing capacity.
Co-living and triple living are two different ways to get more than one income stream out of a single piece of land, and both are designed to target a higher yield than a standard residential property. Which one is right for you depends on your budget, whether you want to occupy part of the property yourself, and how much land you are working with.
ACIGP is a one stop shop, with accountants, brokers and builders bringing over 100 years of combined experience to help you work through the numbers before you commit.
This is general information only and not financial, tax or legal advice. Speak to a licensed adviser about your circumstances.
Book a free Returns Assessment with ACIGP today, and we will walk you through what a co-living or triple living property could realistically target for your budget and location.
