More than two out of five tenants in houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) move into shared accommodation with little or no information about their future housemates, according to new research from shared living platform COHO. The study, based on responses from 5,145 UK HMO tenants, found that 21% have felt unsafe at some point because of a housemate.
This figure rises to 27% among tenants aged 45 and above. Men reported feeling unsafe at a slightly higher rate (22%) than women (21%).
The findings highlight a gap between current practices and tenant expectations. The State of Shared Living Report indicates that 60% of respondents wished they had known more about their prospective housemates before moving in, and 53% wanted greater input on who joins their household.
Vann Vogstad, Chief Executive of COHO, stated that the research "exposes a major gap in the way shared living works today." He added that "tenants feeling unsafe in their own home, even once, is not something the sector can ignore."