From the Kitchen Floor to the Basement - Sharing Arrangements in two Centuries

Abstract

Letting part of the home is one form of sharing. Such arrangements can be found in both rental and owner-occupied housing units. In this article we discuss the mechanisms that generate sharing arrangements. In particular, we argue that economic strain rather than affluent space leads to households being let. Furthermore, we note that there is often some family or other type of relationship between those who let and their tenants/lodger. We therefore believe that there are also other, non-monetary, arguments behind the decision to let and the choice of tenant/lodger. We discuss these propositions in the light of two quite different studies: the first, an ethnological study of lodgings at the end of the 19th century, the second, an econometric study of letting of secondary dwellings in single-family houses at the end of the 20th century. Despite the enormous differences between the two points in time, we claim that there are structural similarities between the mechanisms that generated the lodging phenomena a hundred years ago and the letting of secondary dwellings in single-family houses today.