The survey which was completed by Easyroommate users revealed that just under 50% of the respondents categorise themselves as ‘not British’, with the majority of indicating that they are European (33%), closely followed by Afro-Caribbean's who accounted for 3% , Indians and Pakistanis (2%) and Americans and Canadians who made up for 2% of flat sharers. The remaining 55% of respondents selected their British as their nationality.
The large numbers of foreign individuals currently based in the UK can in part be attributed to the economic instability currently prevalent in parts of Europe. The lack of jobs and career prospects, drive people to look for opportunities elsewhere. However moving to a new country can be extremely costly, and this that explains why foreign nationals who are look for cost effective alternatives and are driven to flatsharing, one of the cheapest forms of accommodation.
Of the individuals surveyed, most stated that the most important thing to them in a housemate was a compatible personality, however a large number also stated that if they could choose the nationality of the people that they live with they would prefer to flatshare with British or English people. Maya Harruna, Easyroommate.co.uk spokesperson comments: It's not surprising to see that the Brits are the most desired housemates. British flatsharers prefer being able to communicate fluently with the people that they live with, whilst people who have recently moved to the UK prefer to live someone who speaks fluent English, as it gives them the opportunity to improve their language.
The Spanish were the next most popular nationality selected, closely followed by the Americans and the French. In comparison, the least popular nationalities were the West Indians, Eastern Europeans and Bangladeshis.
An analysis of the figures also uncovered that the Brits were the most closed minded when it came to living with foreigners, with 70% of Easyroommate users that identified as British also selecting that their fellow Brits were their ideal house mates. The reason that appeared the most frequently was that they preferred to live with people who spoke the same language because it made communication easier.
According to the survey results, the majority of the users who stated that they preferred to live with people of the same nationality as themselves were British and lived in London, individuals based in the south east and the West Midlands also stated that they preferred to live with people of a similar nationality.
Despite the majority of Easyroommate users preferring to live with Brits, the flatsharing market appears to be relatively multi-cultural, the survey uncovered that 64% of flatshares are inhabited with people from at least 2 different nationalities.
