- Due to the soaring costs of living in the UK, I decided to move into a house-share.
- I get along well with my roommates — two men, aged 37 and 29.
- Although we make an unlikely trio, I love our low-key dinner parties and board-game nights.
The first time I had roommates, I was 19 and at university. I was one of four in a run-down house where bedroom dining was the norm, and piles of crusty dishes were simply part of the decor.
Although moving out was considered a rite of passage into adulthood, I was relieved to move back into my parents’ comfy suburban five-bedroom home.
However, moving back in my mid-30s after the breakdown of a long-term relationship didn’t feel quite as cute. I felt like I’d failed in life, with no tangible assets — or offspring — to my name.
Moving back in with my parents made me feel like an overgrown teenager
I found that by moving back home, I naturally regressed to my teenage state. I spent a lot of time in my bedroom, snapped over questions about where I was going, and became disheartened when my millennial TV tastes were greeted with loaded sighs.
Of course, I was grateful for the more-than-generous family rate applied to my rent, but I felt like I had lost a part of my independence.
Due to the soaring costs of living in England, renting solo was out of the question for me as a single freelancer.
After all, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), average rental prices in England went up by nearly 9% in the year leading up to February 2024, the highest rise in annual percentage since records began in 2015.
Eventually, I began to consider house-sharing as an option
As I was scrolling through Facebook one day, I came across a post from a 39-year-old woman looking for a roommate.
In her post, she described her lifestyle and interests to boost her chances of a match. Although I wasn’t quite ready for this type of dating-app approach to house hunting, I was pleasantly surprised to find there were other older singles who, for all sorts of reasons, were stranded by the current housing market.
And so, at the grand age of 36, I began to toy with the idea of house-sharing and finding roommates.
I looked at a handful of places where homeowners in their early 30s to late 50s were looking for lodgers, and I finally settled on a residence in a bustling Birmingham suburb.
Moving in with my roommates was one of the best decisions I could have made
Cat Thompson
My landlord is a 37-year-old man originally from Romania and also provides a room to a 29-year-old Ukrainian refugee. In some ways, we make an unlikely trio, but we constantly talk and laugh over our differences.
Having roommates as an adult is a little different than it was when I was younger. As an adult, I refuse to leave passive-aggressive Post-It notes claiming my food. Instead, I prefer to jot down messages offering up my leftovers.
Now, halfway through my six-month contract, I know house-sharing is the best decision I could have made for my circumstances.
Naturally, sharing a home means I don’t need to worry about shouldering the full burden of rental costs which, according to ONS figures, averages around £1,300 a month in England.
Admittedly, it’s still more expensive than living with my parents. But I’m getting so much more than just a room.
I can choose to embrace independence and moments of solitude while having the option to socialize or scatter a tedious working week with movie nights, low-key dinner parties, and even indulge in my newfound love for board games.
Cat Thompson
Since moving into my house-share, I’ve been opened up to new social circles, learned I’m terrible at chess, and developed a fondness for red borscht after a culinary introduction to Eastern European cuisine.
It’s these humbling moments when house sharing feels less like bridging a gap and more like forging a path — though I have no plans to move out just yet.
