What is home sharing?

Home sharing helps people who have extra space in their home connect with a guest who needs a place to live. The guest may pay rent, help around the house, or both. Together, the host and guest agree on rent, house rules, and expectations.

A city-supported home sharing program can help make this safer and easier by helping screen hosts and guests, make good matches, and support both people along the way.

Why home sharing?

Medford is in a housing affordability crisis. In part, this is because our housing doesn’t match our needs – over 65% of Medford residents are singles or couples, but less than 20% of our homes are studios or one-bedrooms.

Meanwhile, a large proportion of Medford homes are owned by seniors. Many seniors want to age in place, but are worried about continuing to pay their housing costs and keep up their homes.

Facts

• The city of Medford and our entire region are in a housing affordability crisis

• Over 65% of Medford residents are singles or couples, but less than 20% of our homes are studios or one-bedrooms

• The city of Medford has a larger proportion of senior citizens than at any other time in recent memory, and many seniors would like to age in place but have concerns about continuing to upkeep their houses or performing other basic tasks

• Building new housing takes time and may require zoning changes

• Home Sharing has been shown in other communities to provide hundreds of units of affordable housing, keep seniors in their homes and aging in place longer, reduce loneliness for senior citizens, and increase a sense of community, all without any infrastructure changes

• The city of Medford added on average only 75 new units of housing per year from 2020 to 2024

• An advisor from the National Shared Housing Resource Center estimated that a city like Medford could expect to place 100 successful home shares in the first year and 500 each year after that

• A home sharing program requires staff coordination effort/staff to run successfully

• Nearby towns might also benefit from a home sharing