Mortgage Mates facilitates the ability to co-own a home by matching two or more Mates to own a home together. Co-ownership is like permanent co-living, which has been around for a lot longer than our version of shared ownership, and comes in the forms of flatmates, roommates, share houses and now, purpose let, purpose matched websites for specific individuals.
As you know, ShareAbode has been created to support lone parents in their quest to find not only affordable accommodation, but a place of sanctuary to live, work and community together whilst they navigate the world of lone parenting. And Mortgage Mates is something we are proud to support and recommend to those wanting to get into the housing market.
Co-living together can help with:
- Cutting down the cost of rent and living expenses
- Allows for a higher standard of living for a lesser amount
- Sharing the load and getting time out for yourself
- Gaining emotional support, less lonely and some adult convo
- Sharing household duties; cooking, cleaning
- Even, parental duties can be shared (a bath all to yourself while your kids are being entertained!)
- No more “mum, I’m bored” as friendships are created between the kids’.
The fantastic part about Mortgage Mates is that they see the living part of housing as important as the bricks and mortar. Mortgage Mates is not just about facilitating a house, it is also an opportunity to create a homely . It is an out of the box pathway, much quicker t accomplish than going alone and can be a really smart way to set one-self up for the future financially, for them as well as leaving value for their children.
When speaking with Daisy from Mortgage Mates, it is clear to see that she also sees the ability to stepping stone through the property market as an important part of her users experience. Mortgage Mates may not be your forever home, but it is a great stepping stone to home ownership. That is not to dismiss the importance that both platforms can play in creating affordable housing, but acknowledges that the part may be only one step in their housing journey.
Using new and innovative solutions to an ongoing housing crisis, it can be easy to see a particular offering as the only option for every person, however, the reality is we need to offer lots of different solutions, for lots of different scenarios, so people how the ability and flexibility manoeuvre between them as they need to.
For every year that a parent may live with another family, there are savings to be made. Not only in the rent specifically, but in the cost of food, bills, babysitting and or other parts of your life you chose to share. By increasing savings, individuals can decide to continue co-living to save for longer, or, they can they decide to co-own with their fellow renter to begin paying off their own mortgage.
Over time these savings will eventually enable a person to save enough money to independently own a home (if this is the route they decide to take), so although the route can take a bit longer, it means everyone can end up in the same situation of independent home ownership- but without lots of debt or a high mortgage, which can impact the quality of life moving forward. The other fantastic part of this experience however, is just how connected you can become with your co-living family, meaning lone parents who may have otherwise felt isolated from family or friends and community, can have connections that have physical, emotional and psychological benefits long term.
Over the coming months, Mortgage Mates and ShareAbode will be working on some collaborations, including live Q and A’s and potentially (when Covid finally leaves us) some face to face connection opportunities where you can come together and meet potential or fellow ShareAbode members or Mortgage Mates. This means that if you are a lone parent currently trying to buy, but feeling overwhelmed, you could look at co-living first taking the pressure off your situation, or; if you are a lone parent who has been co-living and is now looking to buy a home, you can meet a fellow Mate to own with and start your journey into the home ownership market.
If you have any questions about either platform, we are all happy to hear from you and help with any queries you may have… And if you are interested in finding out more, our websites can be found below for your consideration:
