Friends fight the crunch

By Michelle Kimpton
Posted: 2009/01/28

THE economic downturn is forcing rising numbers of Scots to rent flats with friends and workmates, according to new research.

Larger properties are becoming increasingly popular as singletons follow the example of Rachel, Joey and Co by entering Friends-style living arrangements to cut the bills.

Single-bedroom properties are taking up to nine days longer to let than in 2007. First-time buyers are suffering because lenders' demands for ever-higher deposits are forcing them out of the market.

So while students and young people used to dominate the letting market, an increasing number of thirtysomethings now rent.

Thomas Ashdown, managing director of online letting agent Citylets, which carried out the research, said fears over employment security and a drive to save cash were fuelling the trend. He said: "By sharing the rent on a bigger property, they are paying less per month than they would have done on a one-bed flat."

Graeme McEwan, managing director of Glasgow letting agent Be-Central, said: "Typically it was students and young people under 30 who made up large portions of the renting market. That has risen by at least a decade now."

The hit American TV comedy Friends followed the fortunes of six flat-sharing friends in New York.