#SharedLiving Would you co-own a property with your best friends?
What is shared living? Share a living space with people who have common ideas, ambitions, and interests. In a high-tech, low-touch world, the shared-living movement is helping to create great connections and opportunities amid the hustle and grind of city living.
Co-owning a property with family, friends or strangers is an interesting way of dealing with the affordability problems of housing for many people in the current climate. As these friends who bought a house together in South London show, they managed to buy and redevelop a property to achieve something far beyond what each of them individually could have afforded.
This video is an interesting exploration into the benefits and challenges of shared living through co-ownership (Evening Standard: HomesandProperty.co.uk)
Trust
As we’ve explored before, trust is central to the success of a sharing economy. But would you trust your friends enough to buy a property with them and live together in it? It’s certainly a big commitment to sign up for a mortgage with anyone and most of us have probably experienced conflicts with housemates.
What’s interesting in this example, is the way these issues have been considered in the design of the property; with en-suite bathrooms and individual living spaces being incorporated into the renovations. These spaces allow for individuality, provide a space to be alone, and avoid the rush for the bathroom in the morning.
Despite this, conflict or a change of plans may just be unavoidable at some point in the future. The friends have clear agreements on the steps to be taken when this happens, which is crucial to avoiding the collapse of the agreement for other parties, or financial issues, should these arise.
“House sharing with even the very best of friends can be a big enough challenge when renting, so co-buying a property and demolishing most of it to create a shared living space has to be the ultimate sign of trust.” (Evening Standard)
Loneliness
More and more people are living alone, loneliness is an increasingly recognised issue and it’s predicted that by 2030, just over 10 years from now, that depression will be the leading cause of morbidity. (The Urban Developer). The design of this property is interesting from this perspective too, large open spaces, plenty of tables and seating and a shared area to relax have been included in this property to help tackle the feelings of loneliness reported by an increasing number of people living in our cities.
This example of co-ownership is definitely food for thought, both when thinking about the future design of homes and property ownership.
For many of us though, owning property, even communally isn’t an option right now. This might be for financial reasons (even communal living will likely require a good credit score and the ability to get a mortgage) or lifestyle; there’s an increasing number of people working remotely, travelling for work and studying abroad for longer periods of time.
“Whilst co-owning may be a great option for those who want to settle down in an area and plant roots. For an increasing number of people who travel and work, live abroad to study, or just aren’t sure that where they currently live is where they want to be for any lengthy period of time, this may not be an option.”
So what else is there for those who aren’t ready to take the leap into co-ownership, but who want to try shared living?
Shared living with RoomForTea
At RoomForTea we know that both our hosts and guests value flexibility.
For many of our guests, being tied into a long lease (often of a year) is a big worry:
- What if you only have a 4 month work placement?
- Or you’re just getting used to an area and don’t know exactly where you want to live yet?
Alternatively, what if you don’t have any previous experience of renting and so are struggling to find a landlord who will sign a lease with you even if you wanted to?
RoomForTea allows for flexible, mid-length stays that generally last between 1–6 months. This gives you the ability to find somewhere safe and comfortable for the length of stay you need. If you want to stay on longer there is the option to extend your stay, or find another property on the RoomForTea site. If you choose to stay in the city long term, you’ve had the benefit of settling into the area, living like a local, and have evidence of having rented in the city.
“This gives guests the ability to find somewhere safe and comfortable for the length of stay they need.”
This flexibility allows being a RoomForTea host to fit into the lifestyles of people from many different backgrounds and in different circumstances; from single parents, to young professionals living alone to retired couples.
As a host, you can choose when your room is and isn’t available. You can welcome in a RoomForTea guest to your home when it fits with your lifestyle and still make sure the room is free for when family or friends come to stay, or when you just need some extra space.
