Student halls for all? That's not the answer to Britain’s housing crisis | Rhik Samadder

Dorm life may be fun for the young – but a new report is suggesting ‘co-living communities’ for adults in their 30s and 40s

Due to a lack of affordable housing, a new report suggests childless millennials should be offered living spaces that comprise a small bedroom with shower, plus shared kitchens and living areas. The report points to “co-living communities” already springing up in London, New York and Beijing, which make it “easier for people to interact with each other”. Let’s call a spade a tool for digging our graves. What they are talking about is living in student halls. For the rest of your days.

When you’re young, dorm life can be thrilling. Listening to the pound of house music through plasterboard walls, battling for space on the kitchen hob like it’s Iwo Jima. A part of growing up. But that is the crucial aspect. No one should be sentenced to live like this once they no longer have their photo on their travel card. If normal-sized homes will in future be offered only to couples with babies, it is hard to not consider it a punishment for the childless. The idea could be a sticking plaster for the housing crisis, but a pint of vodka and Red Bull for the overpopulation crisis.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Suu8md