Room Sharing is a kind of living style where people rent property directly from the landlord with their friends. For example, when there is a 3LDK property targeting family users, and a group of friends with three people decided to stay here, each of them will be able to use one room each as their private place and share the living room, kitchen, bathroom, etc. It feels the same as renting a 1LDK property, but the Room Share rent will be way cheaper. Also, the utility bills such as the electricity and gas bills are shared with the Share mates, so the users will be able to reduce their burden compared to signing individual contracts. Plus, the users can also search for their Share mates by themselves and they would be able to live with persons they feel comfortable with. Although in Japan, we don't have many properties that allow Room Sharing, there are many countries where the culture of room sharing is rooted. Especially in Europe and the United States, the number of students living in Room Sharing properties increases.

In Room Sharing, the borrower is free to decide how many people to share with as long as they get permission from the lender. Therefore, as mentioned in the previous example, one room may be occupied by one person, or multiple people may also share the bedroom. For example, the borrower can put a bunk bed in one room to have two beds and use lockers with locks to manage the valuables. Also, as long as the borrower has an “Agreement with the Share mates,” they can also feel free to buy or decorate what they want in the common areas, the users can enjoy their living with a lot of freedom about their house. Since they need to solve everything by themselves when problems happen between share mates, the decision of choosing “who as share mates” is very important. Even though users will feel safe when they are Room Sharing with people they already know, there are also cases where they found their Share mates from the bulletin board on the internet. In this case, they will need to be careful since they do not know any of them in the beginning and there are chances for them to think “this kind of things should not happen,”

When starting a Room Sharehouse

In Japan, there are not many rental properties that allow people to do Room Sharing. This is because the landlord does not want to see the house become crude due to communal living, and also does not want Room Sharing to become the trouble of the nearby residents. Therefore, users cannot directly go to a real estate agency and rent a family type property if they want to do Room Sharing in Japan. It is essential for the users to tell the agency that they would like to do Room Sharing, and search for houses that the landlords are fine with Room Sharing. Besides, users should also note that in some cases, the deposit and gift money of Room Sharing Houses might be higher than living alone.

When looking for a property that has been Shared

When looking for a property that has been shared, it is best to search for a tenant on the internet bulletin board. Users will be able to search by narrowing down the conditions such as the area they want to live in, the type of property (Condominium, Apartment, or house), and the rent to pay. We recommend users to get a preview before deciding. In Room Sharing, users might get into trouble quickly if they do not understand questions such as, what kind of person is their share mate, the security of the property, rules of the Room Share, and more. We believe that if the users can check those conditions, they will be able to have a problem-free life with their Share mates in Room Sharehouse.

Non-Business Intervention Housing = Room Share

The most significant difference between Room Sharing and Sharehouse is whether there is an operating company or a management company in it or not. In the case of Room Sharing, there is no operating company or management company involved in it. Therefore, the users need to maintain and decide the rules for using the house and cleaning together. Also, there might be a case that one of the Share mates needs to move out during the contract period due to a sudden business transfer or other reasons, and the rest of the Share mates will need to discuss how to pay the rent. For these reasons, it is essential to consider the possibly occurring problems and solutions before starting Room Sharing. On the other hand, in the case of Sharehouse, the operating company or management company is involved in it, which means the property's rules have been set in advance. If any trouble occurs, the users can consult with the company. Also, the users only need to pay for the rent of the room and the maintenance fee, and they do not have to pay extra when someone moves out of the residence. Besides, a Sharehouse is usually a large property, which contains luxurious common areas such as gym, theater room, large dining room, the kitchen just like the café shop outside, and a library that users will not find in Room Share. The operating company is the one who recruits tenants, so the users will not be able to choose their Share mates. Still, because the operating company will often hold events to improve communication between the residents, there are more chances that people will be able to communicate with one another more often by living in the Sharehouse. We recommend Sharehouse to those who are looking for more communications with other people.

Residence = Share House

A Guesthouse is a form of accommodation. Compared to hotels or traditional Japanese inns, the price is low, as it contains dormitories (shared room), no amenity facilities, and shared toilets, shower rooms, kitchen, and more with other residents.
Share House is not only accommodations but a residence. The users must sign a lease-related contract with the landlord or an operation company before moving in.

Many of the users who stay at a Room Sharehouse are students. Students will usually go to the same university they entered for four years until they graduate. In other words, students do not need to move to a new place before they graduate. Therefore, if students can share a room with their classmates, they will be able to spend their time in a pleasant and inexpensive way with more comfortable environment compared to living in general rental houses before they move into their next chapter of life. On the other hand, when becoming a member of society, there might be chances where people will need to move in case of a sudden transfer, leave, or changing jobs. Because of this, there is a higher risk for them to get into trouble with their Share mates about the rent. For these reasons, working adults will most likely choose to stay at a Sharehouse with an operating company or a management company rather than renting a Room Sharehouse.