MONO — Move In And Move On

MONO

Move In And Move On

by Dry Capital

Purpose-built housing for single-parent families in urban Europe. The first institutional answer to a 6.1M household market in MONO's five core markets — ~8M EU-27 wide — that every asset class has skipped.

Single-parent households across MONO's 5 markets

41%

Of EU births now outside marriage — invisible in divorce statistics

41.7%

Of disposable income spent on housing by EU single parents

€0

Purpose-built institutional product dedicated to this segment — anywhere in Europe

Why

MONO was conceived from a life I was living — and a product that didn't exist.

"I was Belgian, rooted in London, country head of a listed developer, going through a separation — and completely alone in a city with two small children and no housing designed for any of it."

Before founding Dry Capital, I spent years as Country Head for a listed real estate developer. It was demanding work — high visibility, high pressure — and it coincided with one of the hardest periods of my life: a market in crisis, a relationship ending, and two very small kids who needed stability I couldn't find in any product on the market.

Belgian by passport, London by family. My support network was a flight away. I was navigating custody, school proximity, lease flexibility, and the loneliness of a city that had no institutional answer for what I was going through. I had the income, the network, and the real estate knowledge — and still, nothing was built for me.

I spent a long time trying to piece together solutions for a problem I could see was growing everywhere around me. MONO is what I kept looking for and never found. It is not a product I invented. It is one I lived the absence of.

Sheelam Chadha

Founder · Dry Capital

Single parenthood has four routes. Divorce is only one.

Conventional analysis captures 50% of the market. Here's what it's missing.

💔

① Divorce

EU divorces per year. Legally tracked — but only a fraction of total demand. Belgium 53% · France 51% · Spain 85% · NL 48%.

Income: mixed · Urgency: high · Housing search: 6–12 months post-decree

🏠

② Separation — Never Married

>LARGER

Than the divorce pool. 41% of EU births outside marriage. When cohabiting parents separate, it is entirely invisible to divorce statistics. Belgium's non-married couples with children have nearly quadrupled in 30 years.

Income: mixed–high · Urgency: very high · Often the most underserved group

⭐

③ Solo by Choice

FASTEST

UK solo-women IVF cycles up +83% between 2019 and 2023 (HFEA). France logged 15,100 donor-insemination requests from single women in 2022 alone — first full year post-legalisation. Single women now ~9% of UK fertility patients, tripled in a decade. Highly educated, age 35–42, high-income. Housing need: permanent, quality, community-focused. Not transitional.

Income: HIGH — MONO's premium tier · Driven by delayed partnership & fertility treatment

🕊️

④ Widowed Parent

URGENT

Sudden life event. Often asset-rich (property in joint ownership) but cash-constrained during estate resolution. Smaller in volume but high value per resident. Strong word-of-mouth referral potential.

Income: variable · Urgency: very high · Duration: 12–24 months typically

Every life stage has an institutional product. Except one.

Ages 18–25

PBSA

€50B AUM

Unite, NREF, Scape

Ages 25–35

Co-Living

€30B AUM

The Collective, Quarters

Ages 30–40

Family BTR

€150B AUM

Greystar, Axa IM

Ages 35–50

MONO

€0 AUM

None exist

Ages 65+

Senior Living

€100B AUM

Coventry, Nexus

6.1 million single-parent households across MONO's five target markets — ~8 million EU-27 wide. Our five cities hold ~76% of the European single-parent population. Growing 3% annually. Housing consumes 41.7% of single-parent income — nearly triple the couple-household ratio. Mid-to-high income tier is systematically underserved: above social-housing thresholds, priced out of family rentals, wrong product from every other category. Zero institutional capital. Zero purpose-built product.

Professional. Underserved. Willing to pay.

The MONO resident profile:

32–50

Age

€80K+

Income

85%

Female-led

1–2

Children aged 2–14

Professional sector · Recently separated or solo parent · Urban, educated, time-constrained · Needs furnished, move-in ready 2–3 bed · 12-month minimum tenure · Child-safe outdoor space · Proximity to schools · Flex or Non-Flex lease

Demand streams (how they arrive):

Divorce

EU divorces/year · Belgium 53% · France 51% · Spain 85% · NL 48% · Average 6–12 month housing search post-decree

Separation — Never Married

>LARGER

41% of EU births now outside marriage — when these couples separate, it never appears in divorce statistics. Entirely invisible demand. Belgium's non-married couples with children have nearly quadrupled in 30 years.

Solo by Choice

FASTEST

+83% rise in UK solo-women IVF cycles (2019–2023, HFEA). France: 15,100 single-women donor-insemination requests in 2022 alone. Women now ~9% of UK fertility patients (tripled in a decade). Typically age 35–42, well-educated, financially independent. MONO's premium tier — not in crisis, making a deliberate life choice.

Widowed

URGENT

Immediate furnished housing need. Often asset-rich but cash-constrained during estate resolution. 12–24 month demand window. Smaller in volume, high value per resident, strong referral potential.

Annual Divorces · MONO's 5 Markets

140K

Germany

120K

France

80K

Spain

32K

Netherlands

22K

Belgium

GROWTH INDEX · % CHANGE SINCE 2015

Eurostat · HFEA · INSEE · Destatis

Divorce has flatlined. Solo-by-choice is rising. Non-married separation is the dominant driver.

How to read: each stream indexed to 100 in 2015. A bar at 178 means 78% larger than the 2015 baseline. This is about relative growth rate, not absolute size — absolute flow numbers (420K divorces/yr, etc.) are in the tiles below.

① DIVORCE

420K+/yr in MONO markets. Rate stabilising. Still largest flow.

② SOLO BY CHOICE

UK IVF +83% 2019–23. France 15,100 requests in 2022.

③ NON-MARRIED SEPARATION

41% of EU births outside marriage. Invisible in divorce data. Biggest stream.

④ WIDOWED

Smallest volume, highest urgency. Asset-rich, cash-constrained.

+83%

UK Solo-IVF Growth · 2019–23

12.7%

Of EU Households With Children

41.7%

Income on Housing

Households · MONO's 5 Markets

Households · EU-27 Total

76%

Of EU Single Parents Live in MONO's 5 Cities

€0

Institutional Capital

5 Priority Markets

2026 to 2028 — Brussels pilot, then rapid European rollout

CLICK A CITY

Brussels

PILOT

500K+ single-parent households in Belgium · 53% divorce ratio

Broadest demand pool: domestic Belgians, EU institution employees (3–5yr postings), NATO/multinational expats. 25% of single-parent families face financial difficulty — 2× general population. Strong tenant law, 6-month minimum notice.

Amsterdam

2028

400K unit deficit · 48% divorce ratio · 2.7× housing cost gap

Frankfurt

2028

Finance hub · 38% divorce ratio · Post-Brexit expat demand

Paris

2029

59.7% births outside marriage · 25% single-parent household rate · 51% divorce ratio

Madrid

2029

85% divorce ratio · 46% births outside marriage · +124% rent increase

Five Cities. One Demographic Pattern.

Same displacement cliff, different intensities. Housing cost, divorce ratio, and non-marital formation all move in the same direction — but the speed varies by market. MONO's 5-city rollout follows this gradient.

	BRUSSELS	AMSTERDAM	FRANKFURT	PARIS	MADRID
Metro population	2.1M	2.5M	2.3M	12.3M	6.8M
Single-parent households (country)	500K+	580K	2.5M	2.0M	1.5M
Divorce ratio (per 100 marriages)	53%	48%	38%	51%	85%
Births outside marriage	54%	53%	33%	60%	50%
Rent growth 2015–2024	+48%	+84%	+45%	+31%	+124%
MONO target district	Ixelles · Etterbeek	Oost · Zuidas fringe	Nordend · Sachsenhausen	Montreuil · Boulogne	Salamanca · Chamberí

Sources: Eurostat 2023–2024 · INSEE · CBS Netherlands · Destatis · INE Spain · Statbel · National rent indices

DIVORCE RATIO

Madrid leads Europe. Brussels, Paris next.

BIRTHS OUTSIDE MARRIAGE

Paris at 60%. The nuclear family is no longer the norm.

RENT GROWTH · 2015 = 100

Madrid +124%. Amsterdam +84%. The wage has not kept up.

BRUSSELS · PILOT · 2027

Highest one-person household rate in Belgium (47.1%). EU institution + NATO professional base with 3–5 year postings. Tenant law protects MONO's 12-month flex model.

AMSTERDAM · 2028

Most acute supply deficit in Western Europe — near-zero professional-rental vacancy. Singles pay 41.7% of income on housing vs. 15.3% for couples. Municipality backing.

FRANKFURT · 2028

Post-Brexit banking influx concentrated in 35–54 age bracket — MONO's primary demographic. Mietpreisbremse constrains mid-market supply where MONO operates.

PARIS · 2029

Europe's largest single-parent market. France crossed 50% extramarital births in 2014 — single-parent formation cannot be modelled from divorce data at all. Encadrement des loyers + target communes 5–15km from périphérique.

MADRID · 2029

Europe's highest divorce ratio and steepest rent curve (+124% in a decade). Spain's 2005 no-fault reform drove a structural surge. Near-zero furnished vacancy.

The app is not a feature.
It is the business.

🤝

Community Layer

Custody calendar integration. School pickup alerts. Playdate matching. Emergency babysitter network. All within your building.

→ 60% less staff cost

⚖️

Partner Services

Family law, therapy, financial planning, co-parenting tools — vetted and discounted. Partners pay MONO per referral.

→ €500/unit/yr revenue

🏢

Building Ops

Rent autopay. Maintenance tickets. Amenity booking. Guest suite reservations. Digital check-in. One platform, zero front desk.

→ 1 engineer : 500 apts

📊

Proprietary IP

Data on what single parents actually need — custody schedules to school proximity. Built in-house. Owned by Dry Capital.

→ 5 cities, zero extra cost

MONO

Ixelles · Brussels

🤝 PLAYDATE

My kids (5 & 7) would love to meet yours! Saturday garden?

Maria → Building · 2m ago

🆘 HELP NEEDED

Babysitter sick — can anyone take the kids today? Will return the favour!

Sheelam · 14m ago

⚖ LEGAL PARTNER

Free 60-min custody consultation — Lawson & Co. Book now.

MONO Partner · 1h ago

✅ MOVING ON

Settlement done. Found our forever home. 14 months here — thank you all. x

Sophie · Yesterday

Your building. Your people.
One app.

The Evidence

Isolation Kills. Community Heals.

3×

Greater suicide risk
Divorced vs married men

10M men, 30 countries — AJPH 2024

40%

Faster depression recovery
Strong social network vs isolated

Post-divorce recovery studies

79%

Of divorcees recover fully
When socially integrated

2014 longitudinal study

Men lose their network in the marriage

Men's social world concentrates in the relationship. When it ends, the network collapses. MONO rebuilds it in 48 hours — 30 neighbours, same situation.

Pain + isolation = the lethal combination

75-study review, 30 countries: emotional pain and social isolation amplify each other post-separation. Remove the isolation — the pain becomes manageable.

Group community beats one-on-one support

Meta-analysis of 21 studies: belonging to a community of peers in the same life situation drives recovery more than individual friendships. Shared context is the variable.

Recovery is fast with the right conditions

79% of single parents show resilient outcomes within 18 months. Speed depends almost entirely on social integration at the point of transition. MONO is that infrastructure.

EU SINGLES SPEND ON HOUSING

41.7%

of income vs 16.6% for couples

BELGIUM SINGLE-PARENT POVERTY RISK

1 in 3

2× the general population rate

EU HOUSING SHORTAGE (2025)

2.25M

units — 50% more than being built

Single parenthood has four routes. Divorce is only one.

Every life stage has an institutional product. Except one.

Professional. Underserved. Willing to pay.

5 Priority Markets

Five Cities. One Demographic Pattern.

The app is not a feature.It is the business.

The Evidence

The app is not a feature.
It is the business.