There are pros and cons to both, and neither should be jumped into lightly: moving can be expensive and you don’t want to have to move on as soon as your tenancy runs out if you don’t need to. With that in mind, here are some of the pros and cons of living with a roommate or alone which might help you make the decision.
Living With A Roommate Pro (and Con) - Cleaning
Don’t fancy cleaning both your bathroom AND the kitchen? With a roommate, you get to split chores! Setting up a rota for all of the weekly tasks that you dread makes everything seem much more doable, leaving you time for the things you enjoy.
However, there is a potential Con in here too. It’s an unfortunate truth that not everyone has the same standards when it comes to tidiness, and there is always the risk that you get paired with roommates who don’t pull their weight.
A solution to this potential issue is to choose an apartment with minimal shared spaces - this way you reduce the risk of living in an unclean space.
Living With A Roommate Pro (and Con) - Bills
This is probably the one that comes to mind first when considering whether to live with a roommate or alone: how do we organise the bills? Living with a roommate is certainly cheaper, as naturally, everything is halved. Depending on how close you and your co-renter are, you may even choose to split the food bills, making things even cheaper!
Although this seems ideal, there are inherent risks involved. What happens if your roommate falls behind on their share of the bills? As a renter of the property, you would share responsibility for this and could end up paying more than your part. Aside from causing tension, this could massively affect your bank balance.
There is a solution though! Many landlords offer “all bills included” tenancy agreements. This means that regardless of whether you are living with a roommate, you are liable only for your own rent and don’t even have to consider any of the legwork involved with bills.
Living With A Roommate Pro (and Con) - Company
Living alone can be lonely. For the types of people who enjoy the peace and quiet of their own company, this isn’t so much of a problem, but for most, being able to make small talk about their day amongst other things is an important part of their life.
Living with a roommate in a shared apartment offers you the best of both worlds - if you feel like being social there is someone around, and if you’d rather spend the evening relaxing by yourself, you can do this too!
Living with a roommate or alone- which is better?
Ultimately it’s a personal choice whether you would like to live with someone else or not, however there are options that offer a perfect middle ground. Shared apartments offered by Ocasa are all bills included, minimal shared spaces and en-suite bathrooms for maximum privacy. Our ethos is one of simplicity, so all our apartments are purpose-built to make things as easy for you as possible.
If you are ready to make the move into shared accommodation, Ocasa have shared apartments across the UK, all built to the highest standards. You can see our selection here.
