Room Sharing in Sydney: A Complex Mix of Affordability, Overcrowding and Profit Maximisation

ABSTRACT

The shared housing sector is a growing private rental submarket. Researchers have sought to analyse the drivers of this growth, the benefits of shared housing for tenants, landlords and wider urban systems, as well as risks for tenants and local planning systems. Yet, there is limited research exploring the diversity of the shared housing sector. In particular, analysis of room or space sharing with non-related adults is lacking. This paper explores the characteristics, geography and impact of room sharing across Sydney. By analysing online accommodation listings this paper provides insights for policymakers seeking to monitor and regulate shared room accommodation.

共享住房是一个方兴未艾的私人租房市场。研究者试图分析这种增长的动力，这种租住方式对房客、房主和城市系统的益处，以及房客和地方规划体系面临的风险。然而目前对丰富多姿的共享住房部门研究仍然不足，对互不相关的成人共享房间或空间的研究更是阙如。本文考察悉尼共享住房的特点、地理分布以及影响，通过分析网上租房数据，为决策者监管共享住房建言献策。

KEYWORDS:

• Room sharing
• online shared accommodation listings
• overcrowding
• rental affordability
• shared housing regulations

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr Michael Chang, Department of Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University, for research support for data analysis. An early draft of this article was presented at the State of Australian Cities Conference (SOAC) 2017 in Adelaide, Australia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. These tenants sign a tenancy agreement with the landlord or landlord’s agent and then sub-let properties to sub-tenants. In relation to a sub-tenant, they have all the rights and obligations of a “landlord” under the Residential Tenancies Act 2010.

2. In NSW, 100 points of identification can be made up of: proof of identity (either passport including visa details in case of international applicants, driver’s licence, photo ID or birth certificate); proof of income (either current pay slip, bank statement or Centerlink statement) and proof of rental history (includes current rental ledger, last 2 rent receipts, current electricity/phone account, 2 written references).

3. Craigslist is an online listings website which provides local classifieds ads and forums for jobs, housing, services, local community and events.

4. The NSW Department of Planning & Environment has divided LGAs in the Sydney Statistical Division into three rings: inner, middle and outer rings. Figure 2 represents only LGAs in each ring where the shared room listings have been recorded.

5. Where more than 10 shared room listings were advertised during the study period.

6. Here, the term landlord includes any person who collects rent from tenants, such as landlord/landowner, landlord’s agent, property investor, head-tenant or property manager.