'MOSHing' helping young people get on the property ladder

The traditional makeup of a household structure is being challenged by the property market in the UK, which has led to a phenomenon called MOSHing, according to Confused.com.

It said that multiple occupant shared homes are being constructed by groups of friends who are creating an alternative family unit.

The price comparison website has been working on the study with futurologists at Future Poll, which is the research division of The Future Laboratory.

Research revealed that 57 per cent of singles have a friend that they have enough trust in to buy a UK property with, while almost six in ten people would consider insuring the life of the person they are investing alongside.

In addition, 30 per cent have a circle of friends that they would buy a home with.

The researchers found that 59 per cent of singles would enjoy a greatly improved quality of life if they were able to buy a property, instead of turning to rental homes, while 65 per cent who currently do not own a home worry that they will never be able to get onto the ladder.

It appears that levels of trust are greater among the younger age group, with 64 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds stating that they have enough faith to buy a property with mates, compared to 47 per cent of those over 55.

Matt Lloyd, head of life insurance at Confused.com, said: "Friendships have always to a certain degree provided an amount of financial support but that trend has certainly been increasing over recent years, with more and more people taking out ‘mates mortgages' to try and circumvent the current strict lending criteria."

Chris Sanderson, co-founder of The Future Laboratory, added that MOSHing will create new roles in shared households which reflect the needs of the group.

"Thinking about new urban households, MOSHers could start to have one person who is a breadwinner and one person who is taking a lesser role in terms of making money, but is staying at home to look after the collective house."