Renters call for greater transparency in HMOs new research reveals
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National findings released as one in five tenants report feeling unsafe at some point during their tenancy because of a housemate
- 42% of tenants received no information about their housemates before moving in
- 60% wish they had known more about who they would be living with
- 21% have felt unsafe at some point because of a housemate
- 53% want more say over who moves into their home
- 16% would stay longer if they were consulted on who moved into their home
8 September 2026, Worcestershire, UK: HMO tenants are calling for greater transparency over who they will be living with, as new research reveals that more than two in five (42%) move into shared accommodation with little or no information about their future housemates.
Consequently, sharers who move in blind are more likely to experience concerns around personal safety – an issue the industry must address, says Worcester based shared living platform, COHO, which undertook the study.
More than one in five tenants (21%) say they have felt unsafe at some point because of a housemate, with the figure rising to more than one in four (27%) among those aged 45 and over. Men (22%) were also slightly more likely than women (21%) to report having felt unsafe.
Based on responses from 5,145 UK HMO tenants, COHO’s State of Shared Living Report raises fresh questions around compatibility, transparency and maintaining safety across the UK's shared living sector.
Across England and Wales there are currently 482,788 HMOs, according to the National HMO Register, housing more than 2 million people.
The COHO findings show a clear disconnect between the way shared accommodation is currently offered and what tenants actually want from their living environment. Around six in ten (60%) wish they had known more about their prospective housemates before moving in, while more than half (53%) want greater input over who joins their household.
Stressing the importance of compatibility, four in ten (40%) say they would be willing to pay more in rent to live with housemates they knew would be a good fit.
The research comes as rising housing costs push more people towards shared accommodation. Average private rents are up 3.7% year-on-year at £1,393 per month while average house prices have also increased by 2.0% over the past 12 months to £272,000, putting home ownership further out of reach for many.
For many renters, sharing is no longer simply a short-term solution associated with students or those at the beginning of their careers. Over 40% are aged 30 or over, of which 89% are in paid work, according to COHO’s data, while 55% say shared living is a lifestyle choice rather than a last resort.
Rising rents, a shortage of affordable housing and the difficulty of getting onto the property ladder are making shared living an increasingly important part of the housing market.
Yet while the financial benefits of shared living are clear, COHO's research suggests one crucial factor is too often overlooked: knowing who you'll be sharing your home with.
A house is more than four walls
Unlike other forms of renting, co-living requires tenants to share facilities like kitchens, bathrooms, communal areas and, in many cases, aspects of their everyday lives.
For some, the impact of an incompatible household can be significant.
Sam Taylor, 32, a business analyst from Kent, is one such case.
After moving to Liverpool in May, Sam turned to shared living to settle into a new city and make friends, without the high costs or commitment of living alone.
Unfortunately, the household turned out to be significantly different to what was advertised.
“The advert said the house would be a mix of men and women, with tenants aged between 21 and 35. But when I moved in, there was only one man and four other women, all in their early 20s, which wasn’t what I expected.
“I’d hoped there would be a social side to the house, especially as I was moving to a new city, but everyone mostly kept themselves to themselves and had little interest in socialising or even chatting - which was very frustrating.
“There was also a general lack of consideration for each other. It meant you could never properly relax in the communal areas because you were always aware of making too much noise while others were on the phone or going about their day.
Sam has since handed in her notice with plans to move back south to a property she owns.
“Landlords, agents and online platforms need to be much more transparent about the properties they advertise, including the condition of the home and who already lives there. In my case it felt like they were more interested in just filling rooms. Tenants deserve to know who they’ll be living with, likewise existing housemates should have more say over who moves in.”
Compatibility can also have a direct impact on how long tenants stay, with one in six (16%) saying they would rent their home for longer if they had a say in who was moving in.
According to COHO, Landlords have also seen average shared living tenancies increase from 6 to 18 months when housemates are selected based on their compatibility.
Vann Vogstad, CEO and founder of COHO, says the findings show that the shared living industry needs to rethink how tenants are matched into homes.
"Our research exposes a major gap in the way shared living works today. We ask people to share their homes with complete strangers, yet in many cases they are given little or no information about who they are going to live with. Tenants feeling unsafe in their own home, even once, is not something the sector can ignore.
“There is also an outdated view that HMOs are simply student housing or a last resort for people who cannot afford to live alone. That is no longer the reality. As our findings show, shared living is a way of life for all ages, so the industry has a responsibility to make that experience better.
“Tenants are telling us clearly that they want more transparency, more choice and greater compatibility with the people they live with. Shared living should not mean accepting whoever happens to be allocated the room next door. We need to move away from simply filling rooms and start thinking about creating homes where people actually feel comfortable living together.”
The platform's compatibility-based tenant matching facility enables tenants to find potential housemates based on shared interests and characteristics, helping landlords and operators take a more considered approach to who is living together.
Vann adds: “What’s more, our research found that 63.5% of residents say their shared house is a positive presence in their local area. As shared living becomes a bigger part of the housing market, landlords and operators must move away from treating housemates as anonymous occupants and instead recognise compatibility as an important part of creating successful shared homes.”
Ends
Editors notes
About the research
The COHO State of Shared Living 2026 is an online survey on 5,145 current shared living tenants in the UK renters conducted between 7 May and 31 July 2026.
The research received responses from people across 47 towns and cities in the UK, alongside more than 1,200 written accounts from current sharers.
About COHO
COHO is a UK-based shared living marketplace platform founded in 2019 by Vann Vogstad, CEO and Jon Hurley, CPO, designed to make co-living simpler, smarter, and more connected. It is the only shared living platform to offer a compatibility-based tenant matching facility, bringing tenants together with common interests.
Trusted by landlords, property managers, tenants, and prospective tenants, COHO is the leading platform to find the best house shares and to help run these homes more efficiently. It was founded to address the growing complexity of managing shared living properties, particularly Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs). Drawing on close collaboration with landlords, property managers, and industry partners, COHO has developed an all-in-one digital platform that replaces fragmented systems and spreadsheets with a single, connected workflow. Today, the platform is used by over 6,000 HMOs and supports more than 55,000 tenants, making it one of the UK’s leading systems for managing, marketing, and maintaining shared living properties.
COHO’s platform is built around the specific needs of shared living. It simplifies the most time-consuming aspects of property management, including tenant onboarding, rent collection, compliance, maintenance, and communication. Designed to improve efficiency for property managers while enhancing the tenant experience, COHO helps create more stable, better managed shared homes.
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