A surprisingly high number of older Australians are being forced to move into shared house accommodation, with demand across the sector doubling over the last 12 months.
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The type of Australian seeking share house accommodation is making a surprising shift away from the typical university student amid a stiff rental market and a cost-of-living crisis nationwide.
The Albanese government is grappling with a housing supply issue and soaring rents, forcing Australians aged 45 and over to consider share house living in record numbers.
According to the REA Group, which runs real estate sites such as realestate.com and flatmates.com, demand for share housing has doubled in the last 12 months.
REA Group Economist Anne Flaherty said they were shocked at how quickly the demand for this type of living was growing.
“It’s extremely worrying and it’s kind of shocking to know that there are double the number of people looking for shared accommodation in May this year than last year,” she told Sky News Australia.
“We typically think of share houses as the uni student cohort but most people looking for shared accommodation do have full time jobs.
“Interestingly what we’re seeing is the 45+ category that’s seeing the fastest growth in share house living.”
She revealed flatmates.com.au had its busiest month on record, with the majority of the 70,000 new sign ups being those looking for a room as opposed to offering one.
“I think this really points to the challenges that are growing in the rental accommodation market,” Ms Flaherty said.
“The fact that there's fewer properties available, rents are rising rapidly and it's driving people to find alternative ways of living.”
NOTE: Invision Homes has a new investment opportunity with a dual studio home specifically designed for share living.
Extract Thanks to: Ewa Staszewska Digital reporter
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