Why flatshare?

There are a few reasons why people choose to live in flatshares as opposed to renting a whole property on their own. Flatshare is becoming more and more popular in the current economic climate [ more ]

Reducing the cost of rent or living

By sharing with other house or flat mates you don't just save money on the obvious costs like rent, but also other bills can be split between the number of housemates living in the house e.g. council tax, electricity, water, internet and telephone line rental, (although you also need to bear in mind that more people means more water being used). 

Finding somewhere to live when working away from home

(Monday to Friday Lets)

Sometimes people live too far away from work to commute in a sensible time, so instead they opt to live away from home during the working week.  Some business people might choose to stay in a hotel, but more and more professionals are opting to flat share instead.

There are several benefits to Monday to Friday rents, in the long run it can work out cheaper than commuting or renting a hotel room.  In addition, as opposed to going to a lonely hotel room at the end of a day at work, they can go to a homely and comfortable house and socialise with other housemates, who may also be in the same situation.  For those that find the thought of travelling over two hours a day on crowded trains is too much for some, it could be an ideal solution.

Social reasons

(Find New Friends to Live With)

House and flat shares are sociable places because although rooms are rented individually there are communal areas to chat to other house and flat mates.  This can be a relief after a hard days work where you just want to tell someone all about it.

For people that are new to an area, it can be a great way to make new friends quickly and they may even take the time to show them around the town and show them the local places to go and things to do.

Some people that choose to go into house or flatshares are looking for friends as well as somewhere to live.

Live in a nicer location

By sharing the rent and other household costs means that a persons monthly outgoing on accommodation can be reduced. 

The benefits that this brings is that they can either spend the saved money or little treats or luxuries each month or they could even choose to move into either a nicer house share or move to a nicer area in town.

Getting or staying on the property ladder

People who are thinking of buying a house but are unsure if they can afford all of the bills and mortgage by themselves, might decide to buy a 2 or 3 bed house and rent 1 or 2 of the rooms out.  They can then use the money from the rental of the rooms to pay some (or all) of the mortgage.  The downside of this however is that if people overstretch themselves and can’t fill the spare rooms they could be stuck with a whopping mortgage they can’t pay.

If you are in the position of already owning a house, but are finding the bills harder to pay for whatever reason then you could look to rent out your spare rooms to get in some much needed cash.  The economic recession is meaning that more and more people are starting to feel the pinch and for this reason there is a larger percentage of homeowners taking in lodgers to fill spare rooms.  The additional income generated by this can be used to pay for the mortgage.

To further help people the government introduced the Rent - a - Room Scheme, which means that a large portion of the money you get for renting out a spare room in your house is tax free.  For more details visit our rent a room scheme page.