Living under the same roof: The impact of housemates on sustainable shared housing tenancy in Shanghai’s condominiums

ABSTRACT

Young adults with difficulties finding affordable housing have increasingly been choosing to rent in the private sector and share housing with unknown individuals. Shared living arrangements allow these young single tenants to reduce their housing expenses while enjoying a shared lifestyle that encourages social interaction with a diverse group of housemates. However, physical proximity does not guarantee social proximity, as people may encounter undesirable housemates. Using a rich dataset of shared housing tenancies in Shanghai, China, this study examines how the characteristics of housemates influences tenants’ decision to terminate their shared housing tenancy before its expiration. Our results show that the similarity of housemates in age, gender, occupation, and birthplace reduces the probability of an early termination of the shared tenancy. The impact of housemate similarity measured in the four dimensions is further augmented by tenants’ bargaining power and individual characteristics. Since early tenancy termination increases the vacancy rate in shared housing, sharing with undesirable housemates incurs significant social costs. This study sheds light on how residents living in proximity can share urban space effectively to facilitate sustained shared housing tenancies and suggests the need for policy solutions that are tailored to the needs of shared housing renters.

KEYWORDS:

• Affordable housing
• rental housing market
• collaborative consumption
• housing choices
• social relations

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Dr. Deng gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Shanghai Philosophy and Social Science Funds (No. 2023BCK002). Professor Chen would like to thank the financial supports from National Science Foundation of China (NSFC71974125; NSFC71661137004).

Notes on contributors

Kuang Kuang Deng

Kuang Kuang Deng is an associate professor in the Department of Investment at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. She focuses on the micro trading mechanisms of the housing market, including housing transactions and the rental housing market. Her work has also been published in Real Estate Economics, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Transportation, Journal of Planning Education and Research.

Ling Li

Ling Li is an assistant professor in the School of Urban Planning and Design at the Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School and a Departmental Fellow in the Department of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge. She focuses on testing traditional housing theories using big data and evaluating place-based investments including public transit and urban redevelopment. Her work has been published in Land Use Policy, Cities, Transportation Research Part A, Urban Studies, Transportation, Journal of Regional Science, and Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics.

Jie Chen

Jie Chen is professor at School of International and Public Affairs & China Institute for Urban Governance, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He got a PhD in economics from Uppsala University in 2005. He once worked as faculty at Uppsala University, Fudan University and Shanghai University of Finance & Economics. His main research areas include housing, urban development, and public policy. His publications have appeared on Leadership Quarterly, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Regional Studies, Urban Studies, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Real Estate Economics, Journal of Housing Economics, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Small Business Economics, China Economic Review, Journal of Urban Affairs and other international peer-review journals. His research work has been supported by NSFC-ESRC joint funding, NSFC (Natural Science Foundation of China), NSSC (National Social Science Foundation of China) and other national level funding.