“I had to choose: either share a house with 60-year-old parents who watch TV at night and wake up at six, or coexist on 65 square meters. with my old classmate who practices a healthy lifestyle and yoga – that is, a lifestyle that I do not accept. Elsa’s scales “leaned” towards her former classmate, with whom they shared an apartment in Neos Cosmos for three months. “Our apartment is small, but it has a balcony,” he describes, “compared to many ruins that I saw in the area, ours is very decent.” Built in 1985, on the third floor, overlooking the apartment building opposite, two 29-year-old girls pay 450 euros per month. “And we are also lucky,” comments Elsa, who lives together for the first time. “Ten years ago, when I started my studies, I dreamed that in ten years I would be working and financially independent.” Elsa, however, dreamed, apart from… the hotelier, of a series of negative circumstances that resulted in her being underpaid and called upon to pay for the ever-increasing cost of living in Greece. Elsa’s case is not rare.

February 2023 study sociological company Ierax Analytix together with the MyRoomie app showed that cohabitation is a frequent option for people over 18 years of age living in Greece, which was also observed at the beginning of the financial crisis. In particular, 59% of the respondents, which corresponds to 1509 people living throughout the country, answered that they cohabited with a person who did not belong to their family. Of those, half (53%) chose their romantic partner as their roommate, 43% a friend, and 15% a mutual friend or stranger (14%). The benefits of living together with someone included friendships, financial support, household help, personal development, and dating—the latter being reserved for the more adventurous living with someone who was not part of their friendly environment. 74% answered that they had looked for a house in the past, and the biggest difficulty they faced was the high rent (73%). 42% of participants say outright that they cannot afford to rent a house. Tough economic times are causing many to seriously consider living together, even with strangers. Thus, 17% answered that it would be comfortable for them to live together with a stranger, and this percentage increases among men and decreases among women. The deterrents to staying with a stranger are fear, not identifying with everyday habits and cleanliness.

The decision to live with strangers makes it possible Application “My neighbor”, which already has 1,500 users in Greece and has facilitated 70 cohabitations in a short period of time. The platform has a number of filters such as “pet friendly”, “LGBTQ friendly”, “cyclist friendly” so that it brings together people whose fluff matches. “The study showed that cohabitation mostly concerns people between the ages of 23 and 35, that is, not so much students.” This was reported to K by Mr. Dominicos Pritis., founder of the company. “Across Europe, there is a shift towards cohabitation as the problem of high energy is shared.” “My Roomie” also operates in the Czech Republic, Poland and will soon expand to Romania and Portugal.