In theory, a room share will cut your rent in half, as you trade personal space, privacy and the right to hang out naked for ~£250 extra every month. With rents continuing to soar, this is making more and more sense to UK flatsharers, who are now questioning just how much they need to hang out naked anyway.
But it’s a big commitment – and if you hate it, you might find it hard to back out of the arrangement. So how can you know if sharing a room is for you? Asking yourself these questions will help you decide.
Do you value your sex life?
If you have a normal kinda sex life, expect sharing a room to put a significant dint in your sexual activity as your default sex-venue (your bed) suddenly becomes off-limits about 70% of the time. From here on out, it’s either their place or… well… somewhere more ‘interesting’.
Did you go to boarding school?
Nothing prepares you for sharing a room as an adult like boarding school. If you can share with moody, hormonal, smelly teenage boys and girls, you can definitely share with the average human adult.
Have you done a room share with a partner?
No boarding school? Maybe you’ve shared a room with a partner before. If you have, this is good. Even though there will be less romance with your new platonic roomy, having experience sharing a personal area will really help you keep things breezy in your new arrangement.
Are you an only child?
If you’ve never had to share a room, not even as a snivelling brat, then starting when you’re an adult may prove a weird experience. What was previously a judgement-free zone of Crusoe-esque privacy will suddenly become just one more facet of your life where common norms and rules of behaviour apply.
Is it ok to fart in your sleep? Is it ok to dump your clothes on the floor? Oh… you’ll find out soon enough…. But if you’ve been sheltered for this long, do you want really to find out at all?
How is this going to affect your job?
Before you decide to share a room, it’s really worth thinking how it will affect your career. Will it make you tired and grumpy at work? Or will the cheaper rent allow you to move closer to the office, so you can impress the boss with some early starts? Just another question in the tornado of doubt that has engulfed the UK’s rent market.
