Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
HOME SHARING A WIDENING TREND
Costs and security concerns mean it’s not just students and young professionals who choose to live with others
THE HOUSE-SHARING trend is fast evolving beyond the student market as more South Africans turn to communal living as a means to combat rising rents, living costs and crime levels.
Growing numbers of older individuals living away from family – and those who have suffered divorce or the death or a spouse – are also looking for community in shared living, say local real estate agencies.
Although the trend is still mainly seen in the student market, says Liezl Hesketh, founder of free online property matching website TheRoomLink, professionals and older, single women are increasingly moving into house shares.
“Student numbers are outpacing available student accommodation, making it necessary for students to find their own accommodation. This also puts pressure on available property stocks as young professionals and students compete within the same market.
“As rents are high, it makes sense that anyone on a tight budget, including students and young professionals, share costs by sharing properties.”
Owing to the concentration of universities and colleges, and the opportunities for job seekers, Hesketh says big cities attract the largest number of sharers. Flats and large houses with multiple bedrooms are the most popular.
Security issues also mean young women prefer to share with others instead of living alone.
Hesketh says there is “definitely” a link between house-sharing trends and a tenant’s life stage. Students and youngsters leaving home for the first time tend to share living space, and choose economy over friends when deciding who to share with, while mature students and young professionals continue to share, but do so with friends or like-minded people.
“Once these students are in a relationship, there is a shift to couples finding their own places to stay, although they sometimes still share with other couples.”
In addition, older women without family often choose to share with similarly aged room mates, both for company and for safety.
In December 2018 a total of 37% of the leases concluded by HouseME, a digital platform that connects tenants and landlords, were multi-tenanted, says founder Ben Shaw. For the younger generation, affordability is the main driving factor towards house sharing.
“Interestingly we are seeing people sharing homes beyond the start of their careers, motivated both by savings and also by convenience and experience.”
Most opt to live with they are comfortable.
Shaw says the demographics of tenants looking to share are:
Young business professionals.
Freelancers looking for affordable short-term accommodation.
Business professionals who have relocated. Foreign visitors in the process of immigrating.
“In most instances landlords agree to house shares if tenants are friends and have a mutual understanding.”
Shaw says most shared properties are in the bigger cities and close to CBDs, as well as in towns that are home the country’s larger universities.
Internationally, house sharing is also on the rise with real estate start-ups focusing on this market emerging across the globe. The trend is particularly gaining momentum in cities with high property prices. America, Australia, Portugal and China are amoung countries seeing this growing movement. ¡ ¡
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