Media are continually reporting the dire need for housing in NZ. It's very apparent we're not building houses and apartments quickly enough in Wellington to keep up with our population growth.
Added to that is the desperate need for affordable housing - “The stock of state houses relative to the population is currently at its lowest level since the 1940s” according to Economist Shamubeel Eaqub, author of “Generation Rent”.
Turning this around is not a small task. We need innovative ideas and solutions to meet housing needs right now, as well as plan effectively for the future.
The recent TV1 series What Next pointed out that NZ homes in the 1970’s were typically 110 square metres, whereas over the years they’ve become increasingly larger, until now they are more likely to be 181 square metres – an increase of over 60%! Do we really need that much extra room? Could we be putting some of these larger homes to better use?
One suggestion is there is definitely a place for house sharing. This is a service that we at Dominion Property Management specialise in. These larger homes are ideal for exactly this purpose – with some clever tweaking an extra toilet, bedroom and/or living area can even be provided as the ideal set-up for house sharing. With this trend in larger homes it’s easier for multimember households to get along without too many arguments over who gets to use the bathroom next!
When renting a home, people need to spend no more than approximately 1/3 of their weekly net income, as there are additional costs such as utility bills, insurance, food and transport on top of their basic rental costs still to be met.
Many hard-working and financially responsible people are not earning sufficient to cope with the high costs of standard rental properties in Wellington.
As stuff.co.nz recently quoted Wellington’s Citizens Advice Bureau: "The biggest issue are people who are too rich for social housing from the Ministry of Social Development, but too poor to afford the city's horrendous rents."
A house owner ready to down-size can turn their home into an ideal rental opportunity; providing a profitable solution to a real need for affordable housing.
With a room-by-room house share, your utilities are shared and all paid for in the basic weekly rental cost, plus there is an additional cleaning service provided for the communal rooms. This means a tenant’s income can go much further, providing great opportunities for individuals and couples to save for their own home.
House sharing is not only for students or the financially constrained. For some cultures sharing is very natural and attractive. Whilst house sharing has typically been viewed as meeting a short-term transitional need in the past, e.g. students studying in the city, and is usually associated with economic woes, this is a concept that is changing around the world as households are increasingly adopting this type of living arrangement, from young people in professional and managerial occupations, through to older single women choosing to live together for varied reasons.
In America, Candace Bahr - cofounder of the Women's Institute for Financial Education and a managing partner of Bahr Investment Group which specialises in financial planning after divorce – says many of the 25 million single women over age 45 are not only single, they're absolutely unapologetic about it and have accepted that, at least in the foreseeable future, "Prince Charming isn't likely to arrive bearing gifts of real estate." “Many of these single women also realize that they're less financially prepared for retirement than their married counterparts, and that they haven't been able to earn as much money during their working years as most men. Often these women are divorced or widowed and know firsthand how hard it is to maintain a one-income household. They are willing to consider any option, as long as it allows them to hold on to their freedom.”
House sharing is a concept that is changing around the world as households are increasingly adopting this style of living arrangement.
American companies that run self-managed co-living homes for city professionals (WeLive, Common, Node, Krash, and Pure House) explain: “Being in a community is like being in a relationship, it does take work and it takes good communications and you have to be proactive. There are many benefits with having that lifestyle….The biggest misunderstanding of co-living is people think it’s this totally new crazy and radical thing. It’s not. People have been living with roommates for a really long time. That’s how so many people in cities live. Really what we are doing is just taking this way of living and making it better, designing an experience for what people are already doing.”
There are many benefits associated with sharing a home. Yes, it's not for everyone and there can be possible problems. It's wise to weigh the cons up against the pros and to move in with people that share some of your basic key values.
Some of the benefits can include:
- additional income
- companionship and reduction in isolation
- opportunities for emotional, social, and perhaps physical support
- development of social and communication skills
- security
- good quality, inexpensive telecommunication access
- a pooling of skills and resources
My son (an only child) spent two years, while completing studies at Victoria University, living in a large rented Newtown house with up to 11 others in community - most of them professionals and all strangers to him, including a couple with three young children. Joel was so impressed with this experience that early last year he inspired others and set up shared living in a rental house in the Hutt Valley with five young adults (4 of them professionals), most of whom work in the city.
They’re still living very successfully together and now total 6. They share all the basic household tasks like gardening, cooking, cleaning, market and grocery shopping, which is very cheap with their pooled resources. Joel frequently trains home late from working long hours in the city, to a delicious meal that’s been prepared for him. He can enjoy the privacy of retreat to his own bedroom when he wants that and they each have ready company and interaction when it’s needed. They frequently entertain small numbers of dinner guests together and have a positive relationship with their neighbours. Their savings are significant.
Let’s face it, people need people. We all need human connection and studies have proven that we benefit from being a part of a purpose that is bigger than ourselves. Shared living can help us live healthier, cheaper and more comfortable, connected lives. It’s also more sustainable.
If share culture has helped us address major issues like transportation, could it help us tackle our housing crisis?” What do you think?!