Flatshares Gain Ground in Greece Amidst Cost-Of-Living Crisis

Flatshares gain ground in Greece, according to new data, as an increased number of Greeks are willing to share their accommodation with more people amidst the current cost-of-living crisis.

Greek online platforms which aim to connect people from across the country who are looking for roommates, have seen a sharp increase in recent months.

According to Dominikos Pritis, the founder and CEO of MyRoomie, an accommodation sharing website launched in January 2021, new user registrations and related ads have increased at a rate of up to four hundred percent per month over the past semester.

An in-house survey conducted by the company, revealed that six out of ten respondents would consider sharing their accommodation with a stranger.

According to data, for a staggering ninety-nine percent of respondents, the main reason for joining a website devoted to sharing of accommodations is the cost of living

How accommodation sharing is viewed in Greece

The survey took place between September 5th to September 8th of 2022, and drew its conclusions from a sample of 1,101 respondents. Forty-five percent of respondents were men, while fifty-five percent were women. Respondents were from diverse backgrounds and residents of various parts of the country. Eight in ten of them appeared to know what a flatshare is.

Nine percent would look for a flatshare on Google. Fourteen percent would look for these on Facebook groups and pages, and seventeen percent would rely on apps. Sixty percent would turn to their social circle.

While ninety-nine percent said that the main reason to join a flatshare would be the cost of living, ninety-eight percent replied that the main reason to not join would be concerns of trust and security.

The latter shows that seventy percent believe that the most important thing in a flat-sharing app would be security, followed by data protection (eighteen percent) and user-friendliness (twelve percent).

Greek flatshare platform launches in more EU markets

Computer scientist Dominikos Pritis says he created the platform when he himself faced the challenges of finding a flatshare in Greece.

As a result, Pritis implemented strict security-checking procedures for ads and users, such as the ban of aliases and anonymous profiles, to ensure the accuracy and safe exchange of personal data and information.

His project to create an online space where users can either post a free ad for a flatshare or simply connect with other people who are looking for flatmates was eventually so successful that it also launched in Poland in November.

Local versions of the website are expected to launch in the Czech Republic in the first trimester of 2023 followed by Portugal and Romania later that year.

“Countries such as the UK, Spain, Poland, and Czech Republic have already embraced [flatsharing] as a living habit, and Greece now appears ready to welcome this new reality,” he comments.