A Flatshare is where two or more people live in the same property together, each person having their own private bedroom. Flatshares have become increasingly more common in the last times. Having a Flatshare is usually very cheaper than renting your own place and allows you to cut the costs of those extra communal rooms such as the living room, kitchen or bathroom.

How it works: a landlord has an extra room in his flat/apartment and decides to rent it at a price of course cheap but offering such services as home then electricity, gas, water and many times Internet or cable television. This often means having the opportunity to live, study or work even in the most central areas of the city or in a prestigious building, however, paying a very low cost.

The first reason why people prefer to live in a flat-share is, of course, the cost efficiency, this because a flat-share is convenient both for short term and long term, and many times the rent include all the bills in the rent. A flat-share is like to living in a classic house as you share the common areas like kitchen, bathroom, living room, and everyone has their own bedroom and many services such as laundry, washing machine, dryer, iron, towels, fridge, television. The flat-share is suitable for everybody, from students to professionals, tourist to businesspeople and so If you live in a flat-share there is much more freedom, as you can come and go as you please. Another interesting side to live in a flat-share is that you can meet a wide range of people from different cultures and situations, in this way you can get to know the world through people. The flat-share experience is an exciting lifestyle and a lot of fun, is a way to develop your communication skills and meet new peoples.

Opting to live in a flatshare in London with other people will save you on average close to £7000/9000 per year, by splitting the overall rent, council tax and household and the utility bills, and if you find a flat close to your work or at your University you really save also on transport costs.

Good news! If you are considering to renting out a room in your home/flat you can get up to £4,250 tax free income. This is all due to a new government scheme called "Rent A Room" designed to encourage people to take in lodgers, how it works?

• • You let out a room or part of your main property (it can be a whole floor but not a self-contained flat).
• • It must be furnished, unfurnished rooms don’t qualify.
• • You don’t have to be a homeowner, if you have your landlord’s consent you can take advantage of the scheme as a tenant.
• • If you don’t normally fill out a tax return and the income is below £4,250 (around £350 a month) you don’t even have to do anything, the exemption is automatic. If the amount you earn is above just let the tax office know.

A Flat-share is an excellent way to discover a new city. With more and more home-owners and landlords converting their properties into Flat-shares it is no surprise that there is a big range of choice available than ever before. By sharing the rent and other household costs means that your monthly outgoings can be considerably less. Therefore, you can live in one of the more elegant parts of your favourite city (like in the city centre) at a much more affordable rate.

As one of the fastest growing accommodation sectors, flatsharing has increasingly sprung up across the UK. While seen previously for mainly students or business travellers, the flatshare is progressively becoming the alternative way to the classic rent accommodation. The flatshare is progressively becoming one of the new growth sectors in the accommodation market. Thanks to technological innovations and growing demand for affordable rooms, the business of flatshares is on the rise.