HMOs: Not Just for Students Anymore – Why House Shares Are Going Multi-Generational

Posted on 9 December 2025

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HMOs: Not Just for Students Anymore – Why House Shares Are Going Multi-Generational

Up and down the country, in university towns and cities, activity is happening this winter. There’s the sound of doorbells ringing as excited groups of undergraduates arrive to view potential student house shares. Letting agents are busy with viewings (the smart ones have outsourced them to Viewber) and contracts are being signed for the next academic year.

It’s a rite of passage – first year in halls, second and third years in house shares. For Baby Boomers, your TV reference point might be Rising Damp or The Young Ones. Millennials may relate to Fresh Meat.

The image of student house shares is mired in mess: empty beer cans, unmade beds and pizza boxes stacked high but co-habiting with peers is not exclusively confined to young adults working towards a degree.

House shares – professionally known in lettings as Houses in Multiple Occupation, or simply HMOs – are gaining traction among Generation X (those born between 1965 and 1980) and even Baby Boomers (1946 to 1964).

What is a house share?

Firstly, let’s explain what a HMO is. The definition applies to most shared properties, no matter the age of the residents. The official Government definition reads:

Your home is a house in multiple occupation (HMO) if both of the following apply:

At least 3 tenants live there, forming more than 1 household
You share toilet, bathroom or kitchen facilities with other tenants

Your home is a large HMO if both of the following apply:

At least 5 tenants live there, forming more than 1 household
You share toilet, bathroom or kitchen facilities with other tenants

Silver house shares

While our minds naturally drift to student house shares, an article published by The Guardian in November casts a different light on today’s HMOs. ‘The rapid rise of renters in their 60s: I hate the idea of housing sharing but I have no choice’ tells the stories of Deborah, Tamara and Andreas, all from the ‘silver’ generation and depending on HMOs in later life.

There are shared bathrooms, queues to use the washing machine and even instances of age discrimination. For many mature residents, however, it’s a ‘needs must’ situation – especially in a lettings market where HomeLet says rents have risen 2.3% this year, costing tenants an average of £1,337 every month.

HMOs for grown ups

It’s not all doom and gloom if your standards are higher than a student. The Guardian article also detailed the story of Nick Henley. He founded Cohabitas, an accommodation-sharing site for over-40s, when his father died and his mother became cripplingly lonely.

The premise is simple: the site matches people with rooms in available house shares, either as a long-term renter or as a Monday to Friday lodger. The search function is super helpful for finding the right fit. For example, you can filter results so only quiet house shares that are pet friendly and have parking are shown. Alternatively, you can advertise yourself as needing a room, with HMO owners able to browse potential tenants.

Cohabitas specialises in conventional HMOs – houses you’d find on any regular street. There is a lack of bells and whistles but not to its detriment – the major draw is the exclusively 40+ demographic – fantastic for those not so keen to rub shoulders with students.

Treading a similar path but broader in its appeal is spareroom.co.uk, although not exclusively house shares (you could find yourself as a lodger with a live-in landlord). Hundreds of rooms to rent are listed, with the ability to tick filter boxes including professionals or students, LGTB house households, vegan or vegetarian and number of bedrooms in the property. The results also helpfully give an age range of the current household – 35 to 50 years old, for example.

House shares on a higher plain

Cohabs, on the other hand, is an altogether different proposition. It is the Soho House of HMOs (it refers to the arrangement as co-living). It leads with a lifestyle edge, and straddling the gap between Airbnbs and boutique hotels.

Take its listing for West Hampstead 75. This mega house share contains 28 bedrooms, beautifully furnished with period details in abundance. The property has a cinema room, a gym and a community lounge. Also included in the weekly rent (from £1,492 a month) are community events, such as a monthly brunch, weekly cleaning and house supplies. Not included is a guaranteed en-suite – you’ll have to pay top rent to get your own bathroom.

For the time being, Cohabs is concentrating on global cities and in the UK, is only operating in London. The defined nature of this limited market, however, is yielding some interesting stats. The average age of a Cohabs tenant in London is 27 and the average length of stay is 11 months (it sets out a minimum stay of 6 months, with no upper time limit).

People who rent with Cohabs say they love the instant community and sense of family, explaining why it’s proven to be a good accommodation stepping stone for professional expats. But multiple rooms are hard to maintain and that sums up the HMOs industry’s biggest pain point, especially as its possible each room has its own sole tenancy agreement.

All house shares work best when there is professional management involved. Viewber supports several HMO landlords and letting agents with their property portfolios, offering services that include:

Property marketing packs + floorplans
EPCs
Accompanied viewings & open house events, with key collection/drop off if required
Recorded or live video walkthroughs
Fire safety and compliance checks
Condition inspections (pre, mid and post tenancy) + supporting reports
Key box installation
Meet contractors on site
Sit & wait for tradespeople & deliveries