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Buy to let property investors are increasingly looking to HMO property investments as house sharers get older.

The latest data from property sharing platform, ideal flatmate, has looked at the changing face of the house share landscape and how more and more people above the age of 50 are prepared to be house sharers as a viable way of living.

Sharing houses has become a popular choice for many, particularly in major UK cities, where the cost of renting is too high to tackle alone.

House sharers are traditionally young people, with the 18-25 age group accounting for 43 per cent, while another 36 per cent are in the 25-35 age group.

As people become older, they are normally less likely to be house sharers, with 35-45 year-olds making up 13 per cent, 45-55 year-olds 6 per cent, and just 2 per cent of house sharers aged over 55.

However, this trend is starting to change.

just in this year so far Ideal Flatmate has seen an increase of 74 per cent in the number of over 50s using the platform compared to 2018, indicating that the older generation is coming around to the idea of being house sharers.

Co-founder of ideal flatmate, Tom Gatzen, thinks perceptions are starting to change and being house sharers has lost the ‘stigma’ it used to have, as rents continue to climb, and the issue of affordability grows ever larger. He thinks that ‘people of all ages are starting to band together and tackle the rental market in whatever way they can’.

He said: ‘Age is just a number and it’s one that doesn’t seem to hold any bearing what so ever when looking for that ideal flatmate and we expect that the fabric of the UK rental sector will continue to evolve as a result of this diversity and acceptance.’

Buy to let property investors can benefit from this new-found enthusiasm for house sharers with HMO investments that tend to bring higher rental yields.

Source: Residential Landlord

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