Relationality, risks, and workarounds in share-house tenants’ navigation of policy gaps in Australia

In shared housing in the private rental sector (known in Australia as ‘share-housing’), residents are legally and spatially tied together, although their social connections to each other can vary. Previous work has illustrated how housing policy is often not appropriate for share-housing, with rental regulation in particular leaving tenants exposed to a range of risks. However, research has not yet explored how relationships between share-house tenants may affect the way they navigate rental regulation. Drawing on interviews with 25 share-house tenants in Victoria, Australia, this research explores how share-house tenants navigate risks in a context of policy gaps. We find that at every stage of the ‘share-housing journey’ – including joining a household, paying rent, finding new housemates, and exiting a tenancy – tenants engage in complex decision-making shaped by trust, household relationships, and their own capabilities. Some risks have no clear solutions, while some can be addressed through informal ‘workarounds’; however, these may introduce new risks or pass risks onto other tenants. We suggest that reducing risks for share-house tenants is important from a housing justice perspective, and that doing so may require a combination of policy and support mechanisms.