Home-sharing platforms are matching the elderly with roommates

 Roommates are often regarded as something reserved for college students and fledgling young adults. But increasingly, cohabiting with strangers is becoming as common among senior citizens as it is among youths.

• Between 2006 and 2016, the number of older Americans living with unrelated roommates grew 88% in the US.
• Several platforms have since emerged to help match “home providers” — say, someone whose spouse has passed and now lives alone in a big empty house — with “home sharers,” or those seeking affordable housing.

“It’s like online dating, except that people who have rooms can meet people who need rooms,” one home-share program director told The New York Times.

Currently, ~55 organizations offer these services in the US, and demand is growing amid a housing shortage and the rising cost of living.

A golden opportunity

Home-share platforms screen applicants, verify incomes, coordinate matches (based on preferences like whether they smoke, have a pet, or require parking), and will even mediate disputes if they arise.

Not all agreements are purely financial either.

• Sunshine Home Share Colorado helped Susan Beese (79) and her dog move in with Shirley Jennett (89), who lived alone in a ranch-style home, per NYT.
• In exchange for a two-bedroom space with a kitchen and bathroom, Beese pays roughly half her previous rent rate; she also tends to Jennett’s garden, takes out the trash, and occasionally cooks.

A silver lining

While the biggest reason driving the trend is affordability, home sharing is also helping to address the loneliness epidemic — and not just for the elderly:

• In NYC, nun-run convent boarding houses have become a popular housing option among cost-burdened young people, who are drawn by the reasonable rent rates (as low as ~$580) and staying for the community.
• CoAbode, a home-share platform for single moms that offers communal support through shared household duties, has added ~300k users since 2016.
• In San Francisco, where the average monthly rent is $3k+, Brownstone Shared Living’s tenants pay ~$700/month for twin beds and shared facilities. While some critics consider the pod-style bunks “dystopian,” The Information found residents don’t, with many touting the sense of “communal life and camaraderie.”

Several states are now pushing legislation to introduce or expand “Golden Girls”-style programs, and while home sharing alone won’t solve the affordable housing crisis, it does make aging in place (or living anywhere but in your mom’s basement) more viable, and a little less lonely.

• Meanwhile, many Gen Zers are simply moving back in with their parents (which is one way to get around being broke and alone).