‘I’m starting again’: Inside the rise of midlife housemates

“I probably would be able to afford the rent, but would I be able to afford to pay the bills, eat, travel to work? It all adds up,” said Alejandra Reyes Salinas.

The 52-year-old lives in a four-person house share in the North West after struggling to find a private rental she could afford alone following the end of a long-term relationship.

“You're looking at bills and then food and then travel, and probably wouldn't have a life,” she said.

“And then if you don't have a life or if you can't even socialise, even if it's just once a month, what sort of detrimental impact does that have on your mental health?”

She is one of a growing number of people opting to live in house shares beyond their twenties as rising rental costs and other financial pressures make living alone increasingly unaffordable.

Over four in ten people living in shared accommodation are now over 30, new research from shared living platform COHO has found, up from 32 per cent a year prior.

The proportion of house sharers aged 45 and over also rose from 7.1 to 9.3 per cent over the same period.

The data comes as private rents in the UK continue to rise, reaching an average £1,406 per month in September – up nearly 30 per cent since 2021.

House prices are also increasing, rising 0.9 per cent over the past year to reach £273,000 and leaving average property values more than £35,000 higher than pre-pandemic levels, according to the latest official figures.

In a survey of 5,000 UK tenants, COHO found that 59 per cent said they reconsidered shared living because of the cost of renting alone and the benefit of shared bills.

Removing student respondents, around 62 per cent said moving into a flat share was the only affordable option for them.

After a few unsuccessful viewings, Ms Salinas was able to find a flat share with three other people, all in their 20s and 30s.

She said: “When I first heard about house sharing, I did think, oh god, it's just younger people that do it and I'm never going to be able to find somewhere. Now when I go and look at advertisements, the ages are a lot higher.

“It's given me a bit of breathing space. It just makes me feel I'm not a failure. I'm starting again. Most people are starting again. It's just unfortunate that I'm 52 years of age and maybe this shouldn't be the way that my life was going, but that’s what happens.”

Lena Petersson, 62, relocated from Belfast into a house share with four others in Cornwall earlier this year. She said: “Given the pricing for apartments and houses, I found that the most affordable was of course shared housing. I have a monthly rent of £675 a month, and that includes all these bills.

“If I would have rented my own home, it would have probably equaled about £1,200 to £1,500 a month for a one-room apartment. I'd rather save my money a little bit to be able to use it for other purposes.”

The IT professional adds that she is not the oldest housemate, with another being 63, and all are over 40.

“When you get older, you still want to perhaps move to another town and experience it, but you wouldn't have perhaps any friends or relatives there,” she said.

“So then co-living like this comes in as actually a good option... because you will automatically get rolled into a community where you get to know your neighbours at least. So you will not be completely all alone.”

Most sharers are now paying between £401 and £800 for a room, the data from COHO shows. However, the cost of sharing is more expensive in London, where 18 per cent of sharers are now paying over £1,000 a month.

The increase in older tenants comes despite tighter restrictions on houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), properties rented by three or more tenants from different households. Under government rules introduced in August, councils have gained greater powers to limit new HMO conversions which some in the sector have warned risks driving costs up further.

Vann Vogstad, chief executive of COHO, said: “The profile of today's house sharer challenges many long-held stereotypes of HMO renters. Earnings are no longer keeping pace with the rising cost of living, making shared housing an increasingly practical choice, even for those in stable employment.”