60 per cent of young Australians (18 to 34 year olds) who move in with a flatmate become friends with them
FINDING love with your house mate is becoming the new normal.
There is a silver lining to Australia’s growing affordability crisis cloud - more young people are making great friends, and even finding love, with their housemates.
More than just sharing an address with like-minded folk, 60 per cent of young Australians (18 to 34 year olds) who move in with a flatmate become friends with them, but of
those who really get to know each other a further 24 per cent have admitted to being romantically involved with a housemate according to a realestate.com.au study.
Of those surveyed, 6 per cent are still together and about 2 per cent have actually tied the knot.
Tracy Schweitzer, 34 and Tim Benstead, 31, were not supposed to fall for each other, but a great inner city address and the possibility to share the bills got in the way.
“I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend at the time,” Ms Schweitzer said.
She was sharing a property in Paddington with her best friend and the two young women decided to get in a third flatmate.
“We thought we’d advertise for a guy, to get the balance right,” she said.
But among the guidelines for finding the right person to share an address with, the girls had an unwritten rule.
“My blanket rule was, we really like this guy as a flatmate so no one, not even our friends, can date him,” she said.
“I broke my own rule!” she said.
Three months after Mr Benstead moved in, sparks were flying but the pair were still hesitant to let the cat out of the bag. When they did, it was a huge relief.
“We told our other flatmate and she just said ‘Thanks God, you two should have gotten together months ago’,” Mr Schweitzer said.
Psychologist and relationship expert, Jo Lamble, said a romance which is born from a flatmate friendship could lead to a great success story.
“I think it’s a perfect base for beginning a relationship,” she said.
“You’re more likely to be accepting of each other’s faults because you get used to seeing them every day,” she said.
Ms Lamble said with a more traditional dating relationship someone’s true colours could remain hidden for quite some time.
“You might be dating for a while and then it wouldn’t be until a trip away together that you see them in reality,” she said.
“As flatmates you get to know each other a lot quicker, but at the same time you’re able to build up a tolerance for each other,” she said.
The platonic nature of being flatmates, said Ms Lamble, means people tend to enter into a situation with no big expectations, unlike many first dates.
“You go in not even considering them as a romantic interest so you’re open to them just as human beings,” she said.
While dating a housemate could throw out the dynamic of a share house, Ms Lamble said that a little mystery could be the best bet for new couples in the early days of a flatmate fling.
“It’s very normal to hide it from others, in fact I’d recommend it. Besides waiting to be sure about things it’s fun to keep it a bit secret,” she said.
Henry Ruiz, chief product officer, REA Group said the property portal’s realestate.com.au/share tab was set up specifically so househunters cannot only find a place to live, but get an online overview of who they might want to
“There’s a lot more to finding the right share accommodation than the location and features of the property,” he said.
He said that young people today want to find out more about who their potential new housemates are.
“With 24 per cent of housemates getting romantically involved, not only does our share site help you find your perfect housemate but it could also help you find your soulmate,” he said.