THEn many houses there is an extra room. Maybe it’s the son’s room now at the university. Or the room used as a study and little used. So that more and more families decide to rent out a room, forfeiting an extra income. There are many ways to do it: in the short and medium term, for passing tourists or off-site students, and in a more or less ethical way.
Renting a room in the house to tourists
According to data from Airbnb, noIn 2022, the revenues of Italian hosts who rented out a room were over 110 million euros. Therefore, it is no longer just the studio or two-room apartment inherited from the grandparents or purchased as an investment that gives income, but one’s own home. A (small) solution to deal with the dear life: according to Codaconsthe consumer association, every family in 2023 will face extra expenses up to 2400 euros. The average daily price of a budget? 68 euros. With a little effort, the accounts can add up.
An extra against the dear life
Renting a property is therefore not an option for those who own second homes. Just the willingness to share one’s own.
At the bottom «Airbnb was founded in the United States during the Great Recession in 2008 by people who used a space in their homes for extra income. 15 years later, people across Italy are doing the same thing to cope with high living costs, mortgage payments and another economic downturn.’ Giacomo Trovato, Country Manager of Airbnb Italy explains it. «The typical host only shares a home for a few nights a monthand 4 out of 10 say the additional income helps them pay for housing costs and the cost of living».
When to rent: the most requested periods according to Airbnb
Naturally weekends, especially holidays, remain the highlight for making money from renting a room: they accounted for almost half of the top 10 weekends in Q1 and Q2 2022, during which time hosts worldwide earned more than 2.2 billion of dollars. And yet, there are opportunities at any time of the year, both because foreigners’ holiday calendars are different from ours and because travelers have become more flexible with remote working and hybrid work.
And it is said that only those who live in a big city can choose this solution: if on the one hand Milan and Rome they receive more bookings in correspondence with major events, on the other hand, smaller cities can also prove to be interesting. As Pisa, which surprisingly falls into the top 10 cities for room bookings. In fact, the ranking sees Rome first, followed by Milan, Florence, Venice, Naples, Bologna, Palermo, Turin and Genoa.
Rent, single room off-site
Renting for short periods obviously leaves a lot of freedom to the owners who occupy the rest of the house. But it is clear that too rent a room for a long timefor example to a university student, can be a solution to forfeit an extra income.
According to the report of Immobiliare.it Insights, the price of a single room in Milanthe most expensive city, broke its share for the first time 600 euros (620 euros), up 20% compared to last year and 8.2% compared to pre-pandemic. About half, that is 321 euros, for a bed in a double room, shared with another student. In Rome, second classified, for a single you pay on average 465 euros, 248 for a double. Then follow Padua, Florence, Bologna (over 400). And then Turin and Venice, both around 360 euros.
The demand is there, for the pleasure of the owners. Even without speculating excessively on the finances of off-site residents.
A solution for Milan: “Take a student into your home”
Other solutions to rent a room in Milan is the initiative Take home. Project born in 2004 as cohabitation between non-resident students and elderly residents. And that today instead provides that the host can be even an adult, a couple or a family: as long as they have an extra space in the house.
The project is part of the network Milan 2035, supported by the programme Welfare in Action of the Cariplo Foundation with the aim of developing policies and interventions in support of the right to housing for young people in the metropolitan area of Milan, with particular attention to collaborative living practices. Support is offered to owners in the choice of the lease and in the selection of young tenants. But the the cost of the single is controlled, not exceeding 500 euros bills included for a single, 350 euros for a double. It can be done?
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