Can lodgers help the housing and cost of living crises?

Rents in Britain have spiraled: the average rented home costs nearly £1300 per month.  Simultaneously, many homeowners are facing a cashflow squeeze as their mortgage payments rise by more than their incomes.  Their spare bedrooms might well be an answer: there are 26 million unused bedrooms in the UK.  If they were rented, homeowners would have additional income and market rents would fall: a win-win.

However there are real barriers to taking a lodger.  Finding a lodger you like can be arduous and landlords may be uncertain of their obligations.  We wanted to see if we could make things easier for both landlords and renters, so we created Roomby.

Roomby is a free video-based platform which connects landlords to renters.  You can use it to rent a single room or a whole home.  Landlords upload walk-through videos of homes so unsuccessful viewings can be avoided.  Tenants upload video interviews about their lifestyle, so sharers can check personality fit before meeting.  Both sides benefit from links to information about their obligations.

We are trialing Roomby in South East London now.  Give it a look at roomby.com and share it with your friends who need either a home or a source of income.