When you think of flat shares you most likely think of ten Aussies living in a terraced house in Clapham, with beer boxes as tables, stacks of pizza boxes outside the back door and three people living in each room – including the lounge.
However, these days flatshares are no longer populated by young poor students sharing to keep costs down. In fact our recent survey revealed that more and more people are living in shared accommodation because the property ladder is just too hard to get on to.
Of the 465 people we surveyed, 61 percent of you said you have been forced to live in flat or house shares for longer than you expected to as a consequence of the property boom.
Eighty-five percent of you expect you will have to live in flat or houseshares for between one and five years before you can buy, with a significant three percent expecting it will be over ten years.
In the current property market, with rising house prices, interest rates and stamp duty combined with a lack of affordable housing making it harder than ever for first-time buyers it really doesn’t come as a surprise that so many people are being forced to delay buying and prolong their shared living situations.
What will prove more interesting is how this trend will affect the market in years to come. With more and more people anticipating spending up to five years - and some much longer - in shared housing, we will presumably continue to see an ever-increasing demand for rentals in the future.
For landlords this is very good news; however, will it put further pressure on first-time buyers as affordable properties are bought up by buy-to-let investors?
We will see. In the meantime, for those of us who are in no hurry and have accepted we will be living in shared accommodation for the foreseeable future, the HotProperty survey also revealed some tips for living in harmony with your housemates.
If you are the kind of person who doesn’t wash regularly, plays loud music late at night and eats other people’s food without telling them, then you are probably in the running for the worst flatmate award – you voted unhygienic, inconsiderate and dishonest people the worst flatmates.
On the flipside, winning traits included being considerate, friendly and tidy, with a small percentage of you saying that attractiveness also helped! Which might explain why one in five of you has also become romantically involved with your flatmate.
There might be something to be said for living in flatshares after all though - one in five of flatmate’s romantic relationships lead to marriage!
Other interesting findings:
• 13% of you would prefer to view photos of the existing flatmates than the house and room
• 59% of you think location is more important than price
• 63.6% said public transport is the most important thing to be close to, with work coming in second, at 20%
• The majority of English people would prefer to share with English flatmates, over flatmates from Europe, Americas, Africa, Asia and antipodeans (42%)
Check out HotProperty Flatshare to find your new room.