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🙈 20% of Londoners don’t mind having a dirty fridge, research has found

By Alex Colas

Our latest research has revealed what the most sought-after qualities are for those looking for that ideal flatmate or spare room.

At ideal flatmate, we use scientifically-designed algorithms to match potential flat sharers with spare rooms and as part of this process, each person is asked to rank their feelings towards a series of statements covering everything from social habits, nocturnal activities and even doing the dishes.

We have compiled the average score for these statements from thousands of applicants to build a social profile of the ideal London flat sharer.

The statement that resonated most with London’s flat sharers is that they are relaxed about the sexual choice of their flatmates, closely followed by the statement that they are relaxed about the religious choices of their flatmates – both were the only questions to average over five points.

While London’s room sharing landscape is an open and tolerant place, there is one thing that won’t be accepted and that’s a dirty fridge. A clean and organised fridge was the third most valued aspect of a room share, scoring 4.85/6 on average, which is about 80%. Does this mean 20% of people don’t mind having a dirty fridge? Hopefully not! 🙈

The next highest scoring statement was that flat sharers are happy to help their flatmates with personal tasks such as driving them to the train station. A rota for household chores, putting out the bins and a love for a regular evening social life were the next highest valued statements.

But despite this love for structure, London’s flat sharers also believe it’s occasionally ok to break the rules.

They say romance is dead and so too is the appeal of promiscuous behaviour amongst the capital’s flat sharers, with Londoners rating the tolerance for bringing someone you have just met home for the night as the least important factor of a flat share.

Co-founder of ideal flatmate, Tom Gatzen, commented:

“It’s understandable that we can get obsessed with the physical attributes of a rental property and as a result, many end up living with people that they just aren’t compatible with and having a miserable time because of it.

We try to bypass that by matching people with people which leads to much happier rentals and I personally believe it attracts a better standard of people.”

Co-founder of ideal flatmate, Rob Imonikhe, also commented:

“As the personality test shows, London is full of great flatmates and in times as testing as these, I think it’s amazing that the things people value most are the life choices of others both where religion and sexuality are concerned.

It highlights that the fabric holding the capital’s rental market together is woven from a forward-thinking, tolerant bunch and I think this is indicative of the sort of people that create great flat shares.”

Most valued traits of London flat sharers	Score (/6)
I am relaxed about the sexual choice of my flatmates	5.07
I am relaxed about the religious choices of my flatmates	5.02
I like the fridge clean and organized	4.85
I am happy to help a flatmate with a personal task, for example driving him/her to the train station	4.57
There should be a rota for allocating household chores	4.18
There should be a rota for putting the bins out	4.07
I tend to go out to meet friends, socialize or network most evenings	3.86
It is sometimes OK to break the rules	3.76
I like to sort my spices and herbs clearly	3.71
I sometimes go out and come home in the early hours	3.6
I am usually the person nagging others to tidy up	3.23
I spend most of my time in my room	3.13
I like having friends staying over for a few days	3.12
If I could choose, I would prefer to live alone AVG	3.12
I like to have people over for drinks on a regular basis	3.11
I see flatmates as people I live with rather than friends	2.69
I prefer to eat in my room rather than in the communal areas	2.62
I would like my shared house to be known as a place to party	2.23
Occasionally I bring people I have just met to my house	2.03