With rents rising, finding a place to live for a reasonable amount of money as a single person is becoming more challenging. This alternative home share option could be for some.
Making rent every month is hard. Nationally, rents rose an average of 3.4 per cent per month in the first quarter of the year, according to Daft.ie’s quarterly rent report.
For those looking for an affordable rent, there are a few options other than house share, but even this has its challenges.
There is a way that solo renters can pay less for accommodation, but it will require a change in mindset. It is a house share, in which you will have to give 10 hours of your time to the homeowner.
Rayra, is a Brazilian who moved from Goias province in the central west of the country to Dublin at the age of 21. At that time was working in catering, sharing a house with five or six others.
“I had my own bed but no personal space,” she recalls. “It was very tricky to manage cleaning the house. It was crowded, people bringing friends around. We were young and free.
"On paper, it was great, but it was always noisy; there were always parties. It was hard to feel safe.”
Rent was relatively expensive, costing her €800 per month.
She heard about The Home Share, a programme that matches elders with those younger looking for an affordable place to live.
It came with some caveats. For a fee of €195 plus VAT at 23 per cent, a sum paid to The Home Share agency, she was expected to give ten hours of what she calls “practical support”, such as light housework and companionship.
She also had to contribute to utilities, €65 per month. She paid this money directly to the homeowner. In total, it came to about €260, ex VAT. “That was my rent for the month,” she says.
The money pays for ongoing monitoring and support, explains CEO Lucie Cunningham, who worked as a home carer and home care manager before setting up the not-for-profit.
All sharers are Garda-vetted before they start, and a trial period is in place to ensure the setup suits both parties.
“There is a home visit once a month as well as ongoing monitoring, including calls to both sharer and homeowner,” to see how things are going, too, she explains.
It is usually a family member of the homeowner who first gets in touch. “We ask if there is a diagnosis of dementia or cognitive impairment.”
She has about 60 service users on her books, with about 20 more in the pipeline. Some 35 per cent of these have a cognitive impairment.
Each sharer's experience is different. Some don’t work out.
Rayra's first homeowner had dementia and had carers calling three times a day that she had to open the door to. The family of her second expected her to be “a carer, not a sharer”, so after a period of about six months, she moved to another house.
It has suited her for a period in her life. For others considering entering into a home share arrangement, she counsels them to “be flexible and adapt yourself to the house, to the rhythm of the householder. Be open to understanding that you may be living with someone with mobility issues.”
Another point she makes is that “you cannot have people over".
She now has a boyfriend. On her one night off a week, she stays with him.
They’re now planning a life together. Sharing rent and bills between two people will be easier.
Older homesharers are also welcome.
Martin, a musician in his early sixties, had been renting long-term in Dublin’s commuter belt when his landlord decided to move back into the property.
He had to find alternative accommodation and met Cunningham at an older person’s conference. She suggested he try The Home Share and put him in touch with Pat.
"We just clicked," says 90-something Pat, who is originally from Scotland. Also a music lover, he plays the chromatic harmonica. “We had a lot in common and a country background. We were both widely travelled."
The pair now play together in a local pub, and on the evenings that they’re in, they each fix their own supper, and after their meals, they often play Matador, a game that, from afar, resembles Dominoes. Both are fiercely competitive.
It sounds idyllic. But there are considerations, Martin counsels. In return for a place to stay and a payment to Homeshare, you must give ten hours a week to the homeowner.
“Although it may not seem like a lot, it is 10 hours that have to be ring-fenced. You have to see how it is best distributed, and you have to help in and around the house.”
The trial period is two weeks. It gives both parties an out if it isn’t working out.
Pat has had several sharers in the last eight or nine years and feels that three people cohabitating offers a better sense of balance than just two. He shares with Martin and another, Mary, who is from Uganda. "It keeps things more fluid and less intense," he explains.
“You don’t have a one-on-one relationship. There are two men and one woman. The house isn’t heavily gendered."
Each prepares their own evening meal.
He is a man of routine, says Martin of Pat. “He has supper from eight to ten pm. Then he does his personal admin from 10 pm to midnight.”
The setup is working for Pat. “At my age, most people are in a nursing home. It’s nice to be able to stay in my own home.”
“It is like a very, very, mild form of service,” Martin explains. “You have to be prepared for that and know what you’re getting yourself into. It’s a bridge that you have to walk across with yourself and with the owner.”
If you feel you might be a fit and would like to find out more about The Home Share visit thehomeshare.ie
