For most people, buying a home is considered a life event and buying your first home is a huge milestone. While this has likely always been the case, house prices and private rents in the UK have steadily risen in recent years where income hasn’t always followed, making it an even more sought-after – and even more slippery – goal to reach.
That disconnect, partnered with the high density of people in cities, has meant that more people are living with housemates further into their adult years than ever before. We explore what this means for our living landscape today and what the impact on home as you view it may be when you’re renting with multiple people or sharing joint ownership of property.
Houses in multiple occupation
The official term for a home of 3 or more people in a household where you share either a toilet, bathroom or kitchen is an HMO (house in multiple occupation). However, for most millennials, zoomers and gen-zers, this will be better known simply as having housemates. Homes with at least 5 tenants officially constitute a large HMO, though their commonality within cities and commuter towns is unlikely to be an unusual amount. This is significant because more of us than ever before are living in these spaces, either to meet our budget or as a means to save.
Depending on who you live with, the impact on how you relate to home can be huge. Whether you’re renting with friends (that you’d like to keep as friends) or SpareRoom strangers, explore our top tips for keeping the peace and carving out a slice of home just for you.
Swerve bill-splitting disputes
When we carried out our Happy Homes Report, one of the top factors that we found contributed to a contented environment was a sense of security. This security relates specifically to ‘shelter, safety and stability’ and, for this reason, we found that renting is shown to be, on average, detrimental to our home happiness.
That being said, there are elements that we can control that can boost our sense of stability in the home. Taking steps to make sure your household’s bills are paid on time will reduce any potential conflict and prevent your tenancy being called into question. Encourage your housemates to set up direct debits to each of the bill-payers and establish a household Splitwise account so that agreed day-to-day purchases are accounted for and squared up smoothly.
