Shared Housing Member Accounts are for people seeking a roommate or to rent a room in their home. Find out how to sign up by clicking “how it works”.
Landlord Member Accounts are for property owners, property managers, or housing providers with housing for rent who do not reside in the unit for rent.
Agency Member Accounts are for case managers and housing advocates who connect members with landlords.
Many working families are unable to afford market rate rents. Sharing housing will allow families to live and work in urban areas and benefit from the services available to them. Many elderly need to rent out their extra rooms to maintain their mortgages and they need long term, reliable shared housing arrangements. HousingMatch shared housing network can help.
HousingMatch.org brings back the oldest form of networking on the planet- communities supporting communities. Shared housing is not new. People have been sharing housing, childcare, household chores and thriving in extended shared housing networks for ages. These are difficult times. With more budget cuts, fewer services are available and our children are the first to suffer. Our vision is to provide a safe, affordable, long term solution to the current housing crisis with supported shared housing arrangements by networking agencies, families and individuals.
This form is useful when there are multiple renters whose names are on the lease.
This form is useful for when there is one roommate whose name is on the lease and another is a co-tenant who is sub-leasing.
These are some suggested questions you can ask while interviewing families or individuals for shared housing arrangements.
This is a 20 page downloadable pdf from the Mass.gov website that provides basic information for both landlords and tenants.
This is a 74 page downloadable pdf with landlord tenant information and advice.
Check the Resources section for sample roommate contracts.
Lease terms (how long the contract last), depends on what you agree on: is it for one year, six months, or month-to-month?
You can include childcare arrangements where you agree to provide childcare regularly for each other free of cost, or you can use childcare to pay for groceries or utilities.
Make sure you include agreements about parenting styles in order to avoid conflict. For example and agreement that children go to bed at a certain hour or that they have dietary restrictions
Special instructions for limitations on guests and visitors are important additions to a roommate contract. Include a limitation on how many overnight guests are allowed. Note that a standard rent contract only allows for overnight guests to stay 2 weeks in a calendar year, if not stated in the lease. Don’t risk a lease violation by having too many overnight guests.