Flat-sharing now a long-term solution

FROM the cradle to the grave, the changing face of flat-sharing in the UK is becoming ever more apparent, according to Weroom.com.

The popular online flat-sharing resource can reveal that up to 25 per cent of Brits are now getting married and having children while living in rented properties rather than the traditional route of setting up their own homes.

Additionally, there is a growing trend for older people to live in house and flat-shares, with a third of over 55s still renting when they reach retirement.

Research commissioned by Weroom with OnePoll also revealed that 36 per cent of British renters move in with their partners for the first time into flat or house shares, one in 10 of us get divorced while living with housemates and more than 20 per cent of renters live with married or cohabiting couples.

The findings show how modern lifetime milestones, experiences and expectations are dramatically different from those a generation ago.

The cumulative effects of the acute housing shortage in the UK, the rising cost of living and societal change mean that over a third of young Brits aged 25 to 34 years old now expect to, or have, become a parent while renting.

Whereas a young couple would conventionally marry and then move into a purchased home to raise a family, a third of us now rent in order to save up for our next steps: marriage, children and our own property.

Just under a third of tenants living in rental accommodation actually consider flat-sharing to be a long-term property solution for them.

There is also a growing trend for older people to live in flat-shares with 29 per cent of over 55s surveyed still renting when they reach their retirement and 28 per cent of Brits living with people over the age of 40.

Thomas Villeneuve, CEO of Weroom, said: “As property prices continue to rise across the UK, flat-sharing is an increasingly common housing option for all ages. Gone are the days when young couples marry and move into their lifetime home to begin a family.

“Nowadays, key lifetime milestones, such as marriage and having children, are being celebrated in rented accommodation with flatmates. Likewise, older Brits are turning to flat-shares in later life and during retirement – something which would have been unheard of a generation ago.”