According to research carried out by website SpareRoom, house and flat shares in properties with six or more bedrooms is the fastest growing property type on their books, as tenants look for cheaper rooms in Houses of Multiple Occupation.
Over the last twelve months, SpareRoom has seen a 60% surge in rooms available in houses with six or more bedrooms, a 54% increase in rooms in five bedroom properties and a 47% rise in rooms in four bed properties. In London the figures show a massive 80% increase in people looking for rooms in properties with six or more bedrooms and a 77% increase for rooms in properties with five bedrooms. These larger flat shares are becoming more and more popular in the current financial climate as renters look for ways to reduce both rental and living costs as they try and save for a deposit on their own house.
Landlords with property insurance policies on larger properties are now finding it easier to rent rooms individually as it can be difficult to find a big enough group of sharers that will move in together, unless the property is in a university town or city. In the United Kingdom as a whole, room rents for two and three-bedroom flats and house shares cost an average of £428 each month, while rooms in four to six bed house shares cost an average £399 each month. That’s a saving of £348 per year on rent, while in London a saving of £1,188 each year can be made.
SpareRoom director Matt Hutchinson said: “Faced with stubbornly high living costs, jobs uncertainty and, in many cases, reduced incomes, renters are increasingly looking to make savings wherever they can, and sharing a larger property with more people is a simple way to do that. Not only is the rent cheaper, but monthly bills are lower when divided amongst a bigger group too.”