Bill 69, Golden Girls Act, 2019 – Legislative Assembly of Ontario (ola.org) notes that “Local municipalities should not deter seniors from choosing affordable housing options and should recognize that unrelated seniors living together can reap significant health, economic and social benefits. It is desireable to provide clarity to municipalities that the Planning Act should be interpreted in a way that encourages and permits home sharing by unrelated seniors as a housing solution.” 

“Seniors” is defined as aged 55+.

Rent a Room Renting out a room in your home (citizensinformation.ie)

The rent-a-room relief lets you earn up to €14,000 per year tax-free if you rent out a room (or rooms) in your home to private tenants. A self-contained unit, such as a basement flat or a converted garage attached to your home, can qualify for this relief…  

…to qualify for rent-a room relief, your home must be located in the State and you must occupy it as your sole residence during the year of assessment.

Living Alone Allowance: Living Alone Increase (citizensinformation.ie) The Living Alone Increase is an extra payment for people who are living alone and getting a social welfare payment. To get the increase in your payment you must live completely alone. However, there are some exceptions. You can also qualify as living alone, if you:

• Are aged or infirm and have a friend or relative to stay for security reasons at night-time only. The friend or relative must not contribute to the household financially.
• Live alone during the day but stay with relatives or friends at night or if you live alone during the week but have a relative to stay at the weekend (the living alone condition is satisfied as long as the relative has a permanent home address elsewhere).
• Live alone but occasionally take in paying guests (for example, during a local festival). However, if you run a bed and breakfast business (even for part of the year) you will not qualify.
• Allow a person(s) who is not an employee or not an immediate family member to stay in your home rent free and you would be living alone, but for that person.
• Are renting for at least 28 consecutive days to a person(s) who is not an employee or not an immediate family member and you would be living alone, but for that person.
• Are renting for at least 28 consecutive days to a person(s) from Ukraine covered by the Temporary Protection Directive and you would be living alone, but for that person.

Assessments of Shared Housing in the United States

HUD User publishes Insights into Housing and Community Development, a series of research papers examining a single topic or question in a concise format. Insights papers also offer recommendations relevant to policymakers and practitioners.

The June 2021 Insights paper Assessments of Shared Housing in the United States discusses various shared housing models, provides a brief history of shared housing in the U.S., describes the models and challenges of home sharing and co-living, and offers examples of federal and state initiatives in shared housing. The paper determines that the formal and informal shared housing arrangements across the U.S. offer a range of benefits to residents, such as reduced social isolation, access to areas of greater opportunity, and flexibility in housing stock during times when supply is tight. The researchers find that between 2000 and 2019 the number of households sharing housing has modestly increased, with home sharing and co-living being the most common arrangements.

Home sharing helps homeowners lower their housing costs while also providing an affordable housing option to low-income families and underserved households.

Housing constructed and designed specifically for co-living has become a rapidly growing sector of real estate markets and provides a convenient way for young professionals to move to a new city and live in communities with access to amenities and employment.

Visit HUD User’s Insights page to learn more about shared housing and other housing and community development issues.