Sydney renters flock to share house platform as waiting lists far exceed supply

Cost of living pressures and soaring rents have forced renters to seek out an often unpopular alternative. But even vacancies there can be hard to come by.

Cost of living pressures and soaring rents have encouraged a mass of renters to seek out share houses.

Cost of living pressures and soaring rents have encouraged a mass of renters to seek out share houses, but many now have nowhere to go with the lack of shared house rooms available

Figures from Flatmates.com.au reveal waiting lists of more than 130 people across Sydney seeking share houses in some suburbs, but not a single room listed as available.

It comes as housing experts revealed share houses were “decimated” during the early onset of Covid with numbers are yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Flatmates.com.au recorded its busiest month on record in May with 69,400 new members joining the platform across Australia, up 36.6 per cent from April and 103 per cent higher than May 2022.

In May Sydney CBD had 133 people listed for a share house with zero rooms available. Picture: David Swift

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Sydney’s demand was at a record high with the CBD recording 133 people listed for a share room and zero rooms available. It was closely followed by Barangaroo with 106 listings and zero rooms, while The Rocks had 125 listings and just three rooms available.

“Sydney property market has always been very competitive and very expensive so add a rental crisis to that and Sydney sharers are definitely feeling it,” Flatmates.com.au community manager Claudia Conley said.

“It’s the rising cost of living … people originally living in a rental can no longer afford it with rents going up so they are looking at options to share costs.

Flatmates.com.au community manager Claudia Conley

“On top of that is the post pandemic comeback. Share accommodation was really decimated during the pandemic and now we’ve had all of our domestic and international borders open so there’s more movement of people across states and country lines.

“We have out international student community who are back studying in Australia and then on top of that there’s not enough properties available.”

One of the only rooms up for rent in a share house in Roseville at $350 per week on flatmates.com.au

Sydney’s top 10 – highest ratio of share house seekers to room listings

Sydney – 133 people listings – 0 rooms available

Barangaroo – 106 listings – 0 rooms

Eveleigh – 84 listings – 1 room

Darling Harbour – 67 listings – 0 rooms

Moore Park – 64 listings – 0 rooms

Roseville – 48 listings – 1 room

The Rocks – 125 listings – 3 rooms

Seaforth – 40 listings – 1 room

Denistone – 34 listings -1 room

Cabramatta – 33 listings – 1 room

Ms Conley said while there were more properties coming online to share, it wasn’t keeping up with the intense demand.

“In Sydney in terms of rooms available there’s been a 68 per cent increase over the past year and 30 per cent increase month on month,” she said.

The Rocks had 125 listings with just three rooms available in May. Picture: James Gourley

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“The issue is the demand. Pre-pandemic you had your usual type share accommodation suspects; students, backpackers, inner city hipsters, young professionals.”

She said the “community of sharers” had grown to include people priced out of rentals, older people who may have divorced or lost a spouse as well as single parents.

Flatmates.com.au had a waiting time of 2-4 weeks pre-pandemic which has now increased to 6-8 weeks to secure a room in a share house.

Flatmates.com.au has a room for rent in Bondi Junction for $500 a week.

“We really want to encourage people to be a little bit more creative or to look at suburbs a couple of suburbs across from their dream suburbs,” Ms Conley said.

“There’s more rooms available the further out you go.

“We’d also love to see more homeowners, more empty nesters – people with a spare room – take this up. If you are feeling a bit lonely or after a bit more income on the side, there’s so many benefits to renting out your spare room.”

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Originally published as Sydney renters flock to share house platform as waiting lists far exceed supply