5 Websites To Find Rooms For Rent
Can’t find what you’re looking for on Spareroom? Try some of these alternative sites instead.
Conversations around flat-sharing are usually met with a communal groan. Yet for most twenty-somethings, and for an ever-expanding number of thirty and forty-somethings too, it is an inescapable reality.
Worst of all, searching for that elusive, perfect-match flatmate every time another one falls through can feel impossible as you stare into the abyss of time-consuming and downright despair-inducing options available to you.
Let’s face it, the less you get on with your housemates, the more you are going to want to move, and the more time you will spend trawling the internet trying to find a new room to rent, or a new flatmate to get rid of that one who consistently throws parties in your flat until 4am on a Tuesday night. Or the one who appears incapable of taking out the bins. Or the one who won’t let you bring your mates round. (Delete as appropriate: we know you’ve all been there before).
So if you don’t know where to start, we’ve put together a list of the best websites and apps out there to help you hunt for your perfect future housemate. Don’t just settle for the first site you come across; with sites now focusing on helping you find someone you might actually (dare we suggest it) enjoy living with, it’s time to revamp how we look for flatmates.
1. ideal flatmate
ideal flatmate have recognised that finding a housemate whose personality matches your own is the crux of the problem, and the site is all about trying to help you find tenants or flatmates who actually get on with each other in order to create a happy and harmonious living environment. By focusing on personalities, ideal flatmate believe that they can establish longer-lasting and happier housemate matches.
To do so, ideal flatmate have created a unique matching algorithm that makes finding the right person to live with as easy as possible. The Matching Test on ideal flatmate’s site asks the questions that really matter in a sub-two-minute questionnaire covering topics from sociability to cleanliness. And you don’t even need to have signed up before you take it.
Even better? It’s free to send messages to other flatmates and property listings, but if you do want even more from ideal flatmate, you can upgrade to premium flathunter for extra benefits, including access to the phone numbers of all property listings which have a number.
And of course, ideal flatmate also want to ensure you are safe online. ideal flatmate checks all listings on a daily basis, removing those that breaches its terms. There is also a handy section on how to keep yourself safe online while you search for a flatmate. Check it out here.
ideal flatmate Reviews and Rating (4.4 out of 5)
2. Badi
Dubbed as ‘Tinder for housemates,’ Badi has a super easy to use app that helps you to both find and rent rooms, in addition to their website. Launched in May 2018—and free—Badi has an AI feature which “unveils patterns in characteristics users seek when looking for a flatmate.”
Just as with a dating app, you can accept or decline chat invites by looking at your future housemates’ Badi profile, and you only need to get chatting to them if you think they have what you are looking for. Just as you would for a dating app. Their secure chat ensures that you don’t need to exchange contact details right away, but can get to know each other before you do so. And before anyone can come for a viewing, they must confirm their profile by verifying their email address, phone number and bank account.
Perhaps the best thing about Badi is that once you’ve found the right person to rent to, you can be paid the first month’s rent securely through the app itself. No more waiting for unpaid deposits!
Unfortunately, it looks like it’s only available in London right now, but no doubt it will expand across the UK soon.
Badi Reviews and Rating (4.5 out of 5)
3. RoomBuddies
Founded in 2006, perhaps what stands out for RoomBuddies is their section for gay and gay-friendly houseshares, which they claim makes gay and lesbian flatsharing easy. Some would argue that discussing your sexual orientation is an unnecessary part of the flatsharing process, but if it’s something that concerns you, then look no further.
Additionally, the map feature on their website is a nice touch, allowing you to examine the exact location of your future property: a handy way to check whether people are being honest when they claim their flat is a mere ’30 seconds’ from the nearest tube station.
And let’s be honest, the online flatsharing world can be susceptible to scams, so we appreciate RoomBuddies’ attempts to keep their users smart online: their website also contains a Stay Safe Online feature.
Roombuddies Reviews and Rating (4.5 out of 10)
4. Roomgo
Rebranded from EasyRoommate just this year, Roomgo take it a step further with regards to safety, and manually check every room ad on the site.
They have all the usual tips and tricks such as the ability to save your searches for rooms for rent, and the ability to get alerts for new room matches, and they focus on letting you search for what is important to you.
Having been growing since 1999, they claim to be the largest online flatshare community, so if variety is what you are looking for, Roomgo might be the site for you!
Roomgo Reviews and Rating (1.3 out of 5)
5. Roomi
It looks like Roomi is only available in London for now, but it’s expansive across the US, so there is hope for a similar UK-expansion.
Also focusing on safety, Roomi screens all listings and users before they are public on the site, to try and minimise scamming. Although it is free to create an account, post a listing, and search the site, if you want to boost yourself to the top of local search results, the paid options start from $2.99 (around £2.25) for three days, and gets pricier the more days you want to be the top dog.
One super helpful tool on their website is their listings of average rent prices according to the neighbourhood; the tool helps you evaluate areas of London alongside each other and source an area that matches your budget for the room you are looking to rent.
Roomi Reviews and Rating (2.9 out of 5)
Are you looking for a place to live? Take a look at our huge range of spare rooms throughout the UK and maybe find your ideal flatmate 😉
