The Generations Report

Why we ran this study

i Live builds homes for students and young professionals, Generations Y, Z and increasingly Alpha. The values, expectations and ways of living of these generations are shifting faster than the German real estate industry tends to track. We wanted to know what our residents actually think, not what the trade press thinks they think.

In March 2022 we surveyed 2,000 residents across all twenty i Live properties in Germany. Each survey ran 27 minutes and covered 75 questions across nine themes: values, community, technology, sustainability, health, work, mobility and the ideal neighbourhood. The participation rate was 47 percent.

The answers reshape how we design and operate our buildings. They are also, we believe, a useful benchmark for the German PBSA industry as a whole.

Who answered

The respondents skewed young: 18 percent under 20, 45 percent between 21 and 25, 23 percent between 26 and 30. 54 percent identified as male, 44 percent as female. 45 percent were Bachelor students, 15 percent Master students, 30 percent salaried employees. 57 percent were single, 31 percent in a relationship.

Geographically, 57 percent came from Germany, but the rest came from over fifty countries: Brazil, Spain, Italy, Turkey, China, India, Iran, Vietnam, Bulgaria, Romania, and many more. The buildings are international by default, not by initiative.

Home, friendship, and the architecture of belonging

The headline finding of the report concerns belonging. 96 percent of residents say they feel at home in their i Live apartment. 97 percent would recommend the brand to others. 44 percent have made friends inside the building. Most strikingly, 70 percent describe what i Live means to them not as housing but as friendship, joy, tolerance and home.

When asked what they want from their neighbourhood, 77 percent said friendly relationships with neighbours. 53 percent wanted a village-like atmosphere of trust and mutual support. 51 percent wanted an international, multicultural mix. Only 9 percent said anonymous living was acceptable.

70 percent of residents say i Live means more than just accommodation, it means friendship, joy and home.

• 96 percent feel at home at i Live.
• 97 percent would recommend i Live to others.
• 44 percent have made friends inside the building.
• 53 percent want village-like neighbourhoods. 9 percent want anonymity.

Sharing is caring

Four out of five residents would share things with their neighbours. The list begins with food: 46 percent would share meals, rising to over 60 percent among 36–40 year olds and 57 percent among international residents. 35 percent would share expensive household appliances. 26 percent would share an e-bike. 25 percent would share a car.

Two patterns held: women were consistently more open to sharing than men, and German residents were twice as likely as international residents to prefer not sharing at all. The Brazilian-rooted Condomínio model, communal living as default rather than exception, is finding receptive ground.

The community manager as the soul of the building

In the i Live operating model the Community Manager is the named human responsible for the social fabric of the building. The data validates the role. Over 50 percent of residents describe their Community Manager as a friend and "the soul of the house." 33 percent describe them as a friend, 35 percent as the soul of the house, 24 percent as a manager. Only 5 percent did not know who they were.

40 percent of residents attend i Live events regularly. 80 percent use the community areas, lounges, fitness rooms, terraces, at least weekly. The fitness room is the most-used space; 86 percent of residents like the on-site chickens and bees, with chicken-approval alone exceeding 90 percent.

Technology as default

73 percent of residents booked their i Live apartment digitally. 47 percent did so without ever visiting in person. 84 percent want to book additional services digitally. 70 percent use the i Live community app regularly. 63 percent describe the app as a must-have rather than a nice-to-have.

Voice assistants like Alexa and Siri are wanted by 43 percent of residents, higher than the 37 percent German household average. Half of residents are open to AI-assisted administrative help. Only 14 percent use rapid grocery-delivery services regularly; the discount supermarket remains the dominant grocery channel for 74 percent.

Sustainability, the willingness is there, the price is not

Every resident segment said yes to paying more rent for a more sustainable home. 44 percent would pay up to €10 a month more, 26 percent up to €20, 20 percent up to €50. Above €50 the willingness drops sharply.

18 percent shop in organic supermarkets regularly. 25 percent identify as vegetarian or vegan. The pattern is clear: sustainability is a value our residents hold, but their financial reality, students and early-career professionals, caps how much of it they can buy at retail price. Operators who can deliver sustainability without an unaffordable premium will own the next decade.

All residents, every income segment, are willing to pay more rent for a sustainable home. The cap is around twenty euros a month.

Loneliness and health

Generation Z has been called "the loneliness generation." Among i Live residents, 12 percent say they often feel lonely, 31 percent sometimes, 41 percent rarely, 12 percent never. 92 percent value the form of low-key everyday community that the building provides, the shared kitchen, the after-work beer, the spontaneous gym session, as a buffer against isolation.

On healthcare, 80 percent still prefer to see their doctor in person. But 86 percent would attend preventive check-ups more often if booking were simpler. The lesson is not "go digital", it is "remove friction."

Work and mobility

47 percent of residents want to work from home always or often. 52 percent want a separate room or co-working space rather than a desk in the bedroom. 65 percent want career-related programming inside the building itself: company impulse talks, recruiting events, start-up coaching.

On mobility the numbers are striking. 56 percent commute by public transport, 44 percent on foot, 19 percent by bicycle, 5 percent by e-scooter. Only 20 percent use a private car. 54 percent would give up their car entirely if good public transport were within ten minutes, versus a German national average of 18 percent. The car as status symbol is over for this cohort.

The ideal apartment, the ideal neighbourhood

94 percent want a supermarket within walking distance. 89 percent want a bar or restaurant. 88 percent want a roof terrace. 85 percent want a garden. 85 percent want a gym. 56 percent want co-working space. 41 percent want innovation areas, places to build and try things.

56 percent want to rent flexibly rather than buy. Only 16 percent want a furnished apartment, 28 percent want their own apartment, 11 percent their own house. The desired form of life is mobile, communal, well-equipped, and emphatically not anonymous.

What the report tells the industry

A generation that wants warmth, transparency, sustainability and community is moving into the housing market. They will pay slightly more for sustainability and slightly more for service, but they will not pay for status. They want their building to be a place where the Community Manager knows their name, the chickens lay fresh eggs, the rooftop has a bar, and the kitchen produces friendships.

i Live publishes the Generations Report every two years. The full 88-page document, including all charts, segmentations and the visual rendering of the "ideal apartment" and "ideal community", is available below as a free download. The following edition, the Generations Report 2025, is also published and available as a free download.