Key Points
- A new survey has found more Australians are turning to sharehouses due to the rising cost of living.
- Some 48 per cent of respondents said they were sharehousing because they can't afford to live on their own.
- Members aged 55-64 on Flatmates.com.au were the fastest-growing demographic in the past year.
Jen* has lived alone for years now, but this week, she had to do the unimaginable — move back into a sharehouse.
The 44-year-old, from the Penrith area in western Sydney, had to cut back her hours of work due to health issues and began falling behind on bills as the cost of soared, .
No longer able to afford her rental, she had to move. She never imagined she'd be sharing with five strangers at her age, but amid , she feels "very lucky" to have found anywhere at all.
"It has been quite challenging ... I was telling a friend about it and I almost burst into tears, I never thought I'd be going back into sharehousing at 44," she said.
"You think you'll have made it in life at this stage."
Jen has been relying on Centrelink due to her health issues and said she had just $70 a fortnight left after paying rent and other expenses.
She said while the has made a difference, housing remains out of reach for many people.
"The housing market in Australia has gone out of control," she said.
"It’s just unreasonable that people are having to spend up to 50 per cent - or in my case it was 90 per cent - of their income on rent.
"There was once a basic budgeting rule that you shouldn't be paying more than 25 per cent of your income on accommodation, but that's gone out the window ... I think the whole system is broken."
Jen is not the only person in this situation.
Older Australians seek out sharehousing
Sharehousing is typically popular amongst younger demographics, but the number of older Australians seeking shared accommodation is on the rise, new data suggests.
A Flatmates.com.au survey of more than 10,300 respondents from across Australia found the largest demographic on the website was members aged 25-34 followed by those aged 18-24. They represented about 38 per cent and 20 per cent of respondents from those age groups respectively.
But while both of those age brackets declined by at least 5 per cent year-on-year, some older demographics grew.
The survey found that members aged between 55-64 years old were the fastest-growing demographic on the share accommodation platform over the past year. A 21 per cent increase saw this age bracket represent about 10 per cent of those polled.
The 45-54 age bracket grew just over 6 per cent (totalling about 12 per cent of those polled), while a 13 per cent lift in members aged 65-74 saw that demographic make up almost 4 per cent of the survey's audience.
The 35-44 and 75+ age brackets held steady at about 15 per cent and 0.7 per cent of respondents.
The survey found for 48 per cent of respondents the primary reason for living in shared accommodation was because they could not afford to live on their own.
And in the past year, 23 per cent of those surveyed entered the share accommodation market for the first time.
Claudia Conway, community manager at Flatmates.com.au, expects the demand for sharehouse living to continue growing.
"Share accommodation is a long-term and legitimate way to live for many Australians, and until more homes are built to keep up with the demand for rentals, we expect share accommodation to remain popular,” she said.
The competitive rental market has also meant listings are being filled more quickly.
For those seeking a room, 37 per cent of respondents struggled to find accommodation in the past year, and only 39 per cent were able to find a place in less than four weeks.
Jen said she believes most people living in rentals and sharehouses are doing so out of necessity.
"Nobody really wants to rent and have to move every year or every couple of years, it's annoying and expensive and you lose money every time you move," she said.
"I don't think anybody wants to rent ... people rent because they have no other option."
*Name has been changed for privacy reasons.
