Negotiating shared housing in austerity Britain: pragmatic responses and policy challenges HSA Annual Conference 2015: ‘Housing the Generations’9th April 2015

Rachael Scicluna and Sue HeathRachael.scicluna@manchester.ac.ukSue.health@manchester.ac.uk

‘Under the same roof’

• Our aim is to go through the front door of shared housing and explore ways in which sharers organise and negotiate shared living arrangements with non-family members

• Four contexts: – private lodgings (lodgers, resident landlord/lady)– households based on joint tenancy status in

PRS/social housing– shared housing co-ops– and cohousing (hybrid form)

Our Methods

• In-depth qualitative interviews with 66 sharers to date (target: 20 in each group)

• Photo elicitation and time-use/network diaries

“My laundry displayed for all to see in the guest

bathroom. I'm ok with this, but some might not be.”

“My best china stashed away in the upstairs kitchen. Raises issues for me

about fairness and sharing”.

Heath (2015)

Fifteen years on, today’s graduates and young professionals are even more likely to share, yet with no

guarantee of progression in terms of housing quality, and even less of a

guarantee that they will be able to live alone or move in with a partner

anytime soon due to the rising costs of independent housing.

Homeshare Projects in the NW

‘Intentional’ Context of Shared Living

Short Film

To Conclude …

Yet austerity rhetoric continues to overlook the human relationships that lie at the heart of people’s living arrangements. This is part of a broader neglect of the social meanings attached to housing, except perhaps when promoting the housing needs of the ‘hard

working family’. Single sharers sit well outside of this rhetoric.