California-based start-up Rent the Backyard builds studio apartments in homeowners’ gardens and helps to rent them out. As the Bay Area grapples with a housing crisis and massive wealth disparity, it's showing how brands can provide affordable housing while boosting people’s incomes.

Getting a mortgage can be an onerous process. But, as the stock market continues to bottom out and house prices continue to rise, more people are looking to invest in real estate. Start-ups like PeerStreet aim to make the market's gains available to smaller-scale investors.

Would you live in an apartment roughly the size of a one-car garage? Over 60,000 Americans would like to. With a growing number of people choosing to live alone, Carmel Place – a tower block of Manhattan's first micro apartments – is proving popular among New Yorkers.

The nuclear family is steadily losing relevance in America as rising divorce rates drive more older people to live alone and high-priced property prevents Gen Yers from flying the nest. Canvas8 spoke to eight people to understand how different living arrangements impact household dynamics.