House sharing preferences report

A new report about House Sharing Preferences by Cohabitas, the over 40s house share website, has revealed the latest trends in preferences when house sharing.

Using market research questions as a part of new user registrations, Cohabitas has been able to identify key trends and make comparisons with previous research, which is especially interesting now that Covid seems to be receeding and people can move freely once more.

Key findings include:

• 45% of respondents house share only for financial reasons, with 48% sharing for both financial and social, and only 7% mainly for social reasons.
  
• Having Good Wifi and a Washing Machine have now become as important as a Private or En-suite bathroom, as desired amenities – last year bathrooms were the main amenity people were looking for. Having a larger room is now more desirable but only 40% of people feeling this is in their top 3 priorities
  
• WFH is now much less important than at this time last year, with only 38% of respondents saying they needed this, compared to 88% last year.
  
• Similarly concerns about COVID have declined rapidly with 76% of respondents happy to ‘come and go as you please’.

The top tips for successful sharing

1. Respect for others
2. Cleaning up after yourself (right away)
3. Communication and compromise

Cohabitas Co-founder Nick Henley said:

“Understanding the house sharing preferences of mature private renters is hugely valuable to people considering house sharing, as well as to prospective landlords with a spare room to rent. Mature housemates are generally more considerate and tidier, as well as sociable whilst respecting personal space.”

The research has been conducted after a difficult year for many people. Nick said:

“The pandemic has caused a ‘big re-think’ for many people and house sharing has been shown to provide valuable social support as well as being financially advantageous. Anecdotally we know that many mature sharers had a ‘good’ lockdown. Now they realise what is important in a housemate and in a home and are using our site to find the best housemates and house shares.”

If you would like to receive a copy of the Housemates sharing preferences report, please use the contact form and we’ll send it to you by email. Please write a note if you would like us to contact you about the research.

See the Cohabitas reports:
Attitudes to House Sharing report
Housemate Preferences Report – the COVID Issue