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Homes without lounges becoming more common for renters

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November 25, 2025
2 min read

Homes without lounges becoming more common for renters

Renters on tight budgets are opting for homes without lounges as they struggle to find affordable accommodation. Almost one in three homes advertised on flat-sharing site SpareRoom in the first half of 2025 had no living room.

Landlords say that turning lounges into bedrooms allows them to cover their increasing mortgages and other costs, while still meeting the needs of their tenants.

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Homes without lounges can mean a lack of communal space, and this can make many renters live and work in a single bedroom, creating a risk of social isolation, the BBC warns. Some highlight a “false economy” of being forced to go out to socialise, which can be more expensive compared to socialising at home.

Students who live away from home could expect to rent a property where the front room has been converted into a bedroom but data shows that many young professionals in their 20s and 30s are also making the same decision.

According to SpareRoom and the BBC, 30% of adverts for a room on the site in the first half of the year had no living room. In London, that number is even higher at 41%.

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