'A new danger for anyone who shares a flat / house' blog discussion

Hi there,

I'm just finishing my PhD in shared housing, and the notion of linking financial details between housemates would, I believe, add a level of complexity and risk that would go against how many of my participants viewed and practiced shared living, the depth of responsibility housemates feel toward one another, and also how finances are managed on a day-to-day basis.

There is a deep contrast between living in a shared house and living in a house where you share with a partner (and a joint bank account) or share a joint mortgage. Within the latter two there an is an overt responsibility between partners that bills and the mortgage need to be paid, and that both/all are responsible for this to happen to ensure the ongoing ownership of the property or supply of utilities. There is more likely (though not always) more open communcation over financies due to the nature of the relationship between people as they're 'in it together'.

Within shared accommodation, however, this sense of joint responsibility and knowledge over each other's finances is often not evident, and, with financial issues, it is often percieved that any financial problems are both none of anyone elses business, and not the responsibility of other housemates anyway. Financial responsibility is atomised, with individuals having responsibility only to themselves. If you can't pay your rent, it's your problem, not the rest of the house. Similarly, it is perceived that it is the landlord's job to ensure payment of rent, rather than housemates to police other residents. This becomes slightly more complicated within joint tenancies, but many people are in single tenancies or don't have a tenancy agreement at all.

Many people enter shared housing because of an amount of freedom it offers: short term tenancies, in cheap accommodation, where they can move on if they don't get along with people, but have the possibility to make friends in the process. It allows people to live in relatively expensive areas of cities but at a lower cost than living by yourself or owning your own home. But this level of transience brings with it risk to all involved, particularly in houses of 'randoms'.

When people come to look round a house and a room, the existing residents are already making an assessment about whether or not they believe they can live with you. They want to avoid weirdos, and find socially similar people to ensure a vaguely harmonious house if possible. To add a level of financial risk to this would become difficult. During this interview process, they can't always ask "are you in so much debt you can't afford to pay rent or bills on time"; at best they can ask, "What do you do for a living?" You have only superficial access to their financial history. If the changes to credit file reporting and financial associations is made, a financially savvy house will also be having to make a decision about how much that person living with them will then impact their future fiancial choices, as well as if they can live with them. The same is true for the person wanting to live in that house; how do they know that it is financially solvent and not going to impact their future financial choices?

On a very basic level, some residents of shared houses don't have any sense of responsibility or bond with their other housemates in the same way you would within a relationship with a partner, or someone you're in a contractual financial arrangement to pay off a mortgage. Some people will pay late, and some people will leave without paying their share of the bills. In a relationship, this is easier to address, you can rant and moan at your partner and (probably) be forgiven, but there's something a bit taboo about prying into someone elses finances we don't have any joint repsonsibility with - particularly when those finances appear to be in trouble (or at best, careless). We just don't do it.

Interestingly, in my research, most of the financial issues of house shares, such as bills, were not dealt with formally, or even verbally, but on the kitchen fridge. People would put lists up with who owed what to whom, with most bills being shared out to individuals where they took responsibility for one utility, such as water or gas, and then told everyone else how much they owed each month. Where bills weren't paid, the notes became more passive aggressive, and only when things became desperate, or where people were struggling to pay bills, did problems get talked about, and then often in a very apprehensive way. People just don't like talking about money, particularly when talking about money would cause an atmosphere within the house that would make living there uncomfortable.

Shared housing is seen as a very social thing, when in many ways it's an act of economic rationality - you're trying to find somewhere nice to live cheaply. But the financial element of shared living is often sidelined in favour of maintaining good relations within the house. There's a tension between friendships and economics that is difficult to negotatiate.

On a practical level, my concern would be that bringing in financial associations within shared accommodation would preclude people from access to this form of housing, which is often their only affordable route. If we bring about a situation where people are not allowed access to accommodation purely because existing housemates are worried about the financial consequences of being associated with them, it will also bring about a new form of social exclusion. We will also be moving the impact of credit ratings away from just institutional relationships, but relationships between peers, and your peers making an assessment about how your credit rating will impact them - and relationships between people are difficult enough already, when you're living in such close quarters!

Ultimately, I think that these changes assume a level of personal responsibility to others that is currently not always evident within shared accommodation.

These views are based on research carried out in 2010 within shared houses in South Manchester. I appreciate that all experiences of shared living are different, and I am just representing what I found within my own research. It's also only a snapshot of a much larger exploration of how people live within private shared accommodation, so please forgive any sweeping generalisation - I was aiming for brevity. However, I hope it's some food for thought.

Josh

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