House Share

A house share is a type of shared living arrangement in which a group of people who are usually unrelated (a family living in the same house would not be described as a house share) and from a similar peer group, university students often opt into a house share, live in a house together. Most people at some point in their lives will have experienced the house share living arrangement, typically when they were younger, and for this reason it is often used as a plot device in literature and films as many people are able to related to characters living in a house share and they type of relationships that develop from these types of living arrangements. Many people will fondly look back on their experiences of a house share as for many people their first place away from home would have been a house share with friends.

People will often opt to live in a house share for financial reasons as the costs of living a significantly reduced in a house share situation. For example if four people are sharing a flat then the cost of rent will usually be divided four ways, although in a situation where one housemate has an extremely small bed room compared to the others he or she may be expected to pay less. Also a house share can have a significant impact on the cost of utility bills, although there will be more people making use of electricity and gas, when the total costs are divided between the house mates then they can often expect to pay significantly less than if they were living on their own. With the rising cost of energy bills a house share is becoming an increasingly popular living arrangement for many people who want to save money on their cost of their bills.