The Pros and Cons of Shared Accommodation

Moving into shared accommodation is a great option for university students – but despite the many benefits of having housemates, shared living isn’t for everyone. If you’re thinking of moving into a house, it is important to know the pros and cons of shared accommodation. 

UniLodge has a heap of shared rooms available which you can search for here. 

Pro – Built-in friends
Making friends as an adult isn’t always easy, especially if you move away from your hometown to attend university. If you’re eager to extend your social circle, moving into shared accommodation is a great way to meet new people. Even if you don’t have much in common with your housemates, living in each other’s pockets can help foster a sense of friendship. 

Con – Badly behaved housemates 
From stealing your food to playing loud music in the middle of the night, you never know what kind of bad habits your housemates might have. Even if you’re already friends with the people you’re planning to move in with, can you ever really know someone until you’ve lived with them? 

Pro – Shared living costs 
The cost of living is no joke these days, particularly in major cities where the rental market can be extremely competitive. Full-time students often have an especially hard time making ends meet, as they need to balance earning an income with getting good grades. Rather than paying rent and bills by yourself, share housing is a great way to reduce the cost of living. 

Con – Fights over facilities 
It’s hard to remember that sharing is caring when your housemate has been in the bathroom for over an hour and you desperately need to use the toilet. Learning to compromise is a part of growing up, but it’s easy for frustrations to boil over in shared accommodation. If you can’t stand the thought of sharing parts of your living space with multiple people, you might be better off living alone. 

Pro – Independence 
If you’re craving the freedom that comes with living away from home, share housing offers an easy path to independence. Going straight from living with family to having your own place can be daunting, but shared accommodation is the ideal compromise. You’ll still have housemates, but without many of the constraints that come with calling your parents’ place home. 

Con – Leasing complexities 
Are you and your housemates thinking of managing your property’s lease without the help of an agent? This might sound like a good idea, but rental leases can involve complex logistics. If someone leaves unexpectedly you may need to cover the cost of their rent until a replacement can be found. There’s also the issue of dividing up bond payments and covering the cost of any damage done to the property. 

If you think you’ve got what it takes to thrive in a share house, UniLodge has multi-bedroom apartments available at many of our properties across Australia.

Find the perfect home away from home by browsing our locations in Australia and NZ today.