"T here's a running joke in one of my friend circles that, if we ever pooled our resources and lived together, we'd need a cat room. We daydream about what our space would be like beyond feline accommodations: Everyone would have their own bedroom with en suite bathroom, naturally. We'd have a communal kitchen and living space, so we could hang out and get some friend time in."
"We'd have a housekeeper come in once a week, and as we get older, maybe a nurse to check in on us. It's a great dream, and I think we're half serious about living together, especially because half of us still rent. As my friend Diane once said, "As soon as I think I've saved enough for a down payment, prices jump." Housing is undeniably one of the major questions of our time. In Canada, not only is home ownership out of reach for many people, but even paying rent is getting harder."
"A 2024 Abacus survey showed nearly three in five Canadians are somewhat or very concerned about losing their home or rental because of financial issues. And that precarity is even more pronounced for single people. The old rule of thumb was that housing should be 30 percent of your net income. At 40 percent, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) considers a household "overburdened." Overburdened is starting to look like the new normal."
Friends imagine shared living with private bedrooms, communal spaces, weekly housekeeping, and eventual nursing support to manage aging and costs. Housing affordability has become a central societal issue in Canada, with ownership out of reach for many and rents rising. A 2024 Abacus survey found nearly three in five Canadians are somewhat or very concerned about losing their home or rental for financial reasons, with single people facing greater precarity. Traditional guidance that housing should cost no more than 30 percent of net income is increasingly unrealistic, and the OECD labels households spending 40 percent as overburdened.
Read at The Walrus
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