In this week’s podcast we dive into the exciting world of flat-sharing … something neither of us have done for at least 30 years.

How different can it all be in the Third Millennium?  Well, for a start, we didn't have the internet, where you can advertise your flat or yourself, including pictures, to see if you may be a better match than just turning up at the door with a deposit.

But there’s more than that.  There are now all sorts of useful apps to help you function as a group of like-minded residents rather than just a bunch of people who share the rent. 

There are a lot of flat-sharing websites around but we focused on flatmatefinders.com.au and flatmates.com.au, which is where we found lists of the most and least expensive flat shares in Australia. You'll find a guide to the apps here.

Also in the podcast this week we look back at the effects of covid, materials shortages and terrible weather and wonder if any off-the-plan developments are nearing their sunset clause deadlines.

And if so, who is more likely to tear up the contracts – the developers or the purchasers?

We take a quick look at a report that says our worst-designed buildings and suburbs are driving residents out of their overheated homes and into the air-conditioned cool of shopping malls.

And we ask why so many local government areas aren’t meeting their new housing targets.  That’s all in this week’s podcast.

TRANSCRIPT IN FULLJimmy  00:00

Last week, we blithely advised listeners who are struggling even to find somewhere to rent, that they could houseshare.

Sue  00:06

Sure.

Jimmy  00:08

They need somewhere to live. So we're going to be looking at that whole house sharing thing in today's podcast. And, we're going to be talking about sunset clauses and how they can affect your decisions on buying (or not buying), off-the-plan. And, a couple of other things, that have come up in the news. I'm Jimmy Thomson; I write the Flat Chat column for the Australian Financial Review.

Sue  00:32

And I'm Sue Williams and I write about property for Domain.

Jimmy  00:35

And this is the Flat Chat Wrap.

[MUSIC]

Jimmy

So, having advised our listeners (who can't afford to buy, or rent a flat on their own), to maybe consider flat-sharing, I had a bit of a look at that this weekend, to see how you would do it. I mean, it's been so long, since we've shared houses with anyone and of course, since we last did it, the internet has been invented, and stuff like that.

Sue  01:14

That's right. It always used to be notes on boards, if you were at college or word-of-mouth from friends and...

Jimmy  01:21

'Room to rent.'

Sue  01:23

Well, they still do stick them on lampposts sometimes, don't they? But that's probably not a very efficient way of doing it.

Jimmy  01:29

Probably not, although it does get you people who are already living in the area. So anyway, I went online, and I found a few things; there's a thing called Gumtree Share, or Gumtree Rent. But the two big platforms seem to be flatmates.com.au and Flatmate Finders is another one. flatmates.com.au is owned by realestate.com.au They bought it in 2016, for $25 million.

Sue  02:07

Wow!

Jimmy  02:08

It claims to be the most visited website; Flatmate Finder claims to have the most properties and potential renters on it. Some of the figures that they use, it's quite funny. flatmates.com.au says "we're twice as big as our nearest rivals," and then, they show you this graph, that shows that they have 90% of the market, which... So, it's different figures, but let's just say that there are two platforms that are big there. There are others, but these seem to be the biggest ones. The way they make their money is that you can list your property (or yourself, if you're looking for a flat share), for free, but they're limited; the free version is limited. If you pay something like $25 bucks, for between 10 days and two weeks of coverage,