Sarah Watson on shared housing

The co-living trend — in which renters lease sleeping quarters that are often tiny, and share common living space with roommates — now has the city’s official backing.

On Thursday, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development is expected to announce a pilot program that will allow developers to vie for public financing to create a more affordable version of the dorm-style living arrangement that has emerged in some of the city’s priciest neighborhoods. Much of what already exists is at or above market rate, with some buildings offering additional amenities to residents.

The city’s pilot, called ShareNYC, will seek proposals for private development sites that favor mostly income-restricted units, including those for very low-income renters. The units will vary in design, but will likely run between 150 and 400 square feet per bedroom, may or may not have private bathrooms, and will include a common kitchen and living space that is shared with other roommates, according to a briefing on the program and an agency official. A mix of conventional and market-rate units will also be considered.

… For many struggling New Yorkers, co-living is just another name for informal room-sharing, said Sarah Watson, the deputy director of the Citizens Housing and Planning Council, a nonprofit research organization.

“We’re moving toward nontraditional households, and our housing stock hasn’t quite caught up yet,” she said.

According to the group’s 2017 census analysis, almost a quarter of New York adults were unmarried, considered low-income (making $58,481 a year or less), and living in a shared apartment with family or roommates. The data also dispel the stereotype that only the very young and relatively affluent seek these arrangements: Among that group, the median income was $22,000 and the median age was 36, she said.

CHPC’s Making Shared Housing Work initiative contributes to the City’s regulatory exploration of shared housing.