Desperate LA renters are turning to an unlikely generation to beat sky-high housing costs

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LA’s housing shortage is leading many renters to make an unexpected solution: Moving in with a roommate from a completely different generation. 

It sounds like the setup for the perfect sitcom. Maybe an update of “Perfect Strangers” — set in Chicago in the 1980s — where the vibe is “Friends”-meets-”Golden Girls.”

A few years ago, that might have sounded like a strange solution — back when the biggest question about an apartment in LA was how long the commute to work would be, and whether there was parking.

Now, there’s really only one question: Can I afford this place?

For younger renters, the reality is that older roommates make financial sense. 

For one thing, they tend to have higher incomes, meaning that they are more reliable with the rent. 

And if they’re just subletting rooms in their existing leases, so much the better. For a young tenant, paying for a room is much more sensible than paying the rent on an entire apartment.

There’s more than money at stake, however. Living with someone from a completely different age bracket can also connect Angelenos across generations.

Affordable Living for the Aging (ALA), a Los Angeles organization that screens and matches older residents with housing seekers, says it has matched thousands of roommates over the decades.  

The matches are quite creative in their terms. For example, some older residents are willing to exchange discounted rent for help with chores or transportation. 

ALA reports that its average match between roommates lasts two and-a-half years. And it says that its rent-only arrangements typically range from $800 to $1,000 a month — which, in LA terms, is absurdly low.

In one case, Josh, a man in his late 20s, is renting a guesthouse in the hills from Henry, an older man whose three grown children have moved out. (The names of these roommates have been changed).

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In exchange for lower rent, Josh helps Henry with groceries occasionally, drives him where he needs to go, and lends a hand with household chores.

They share coffee and sometimes dinner, and Josh occasionally cooks for Henry. Josh enjoys hearing Henry’s stories about being a young entrepreneur in California, and Henry gains reliable help and company. 

But that kind of bond is not guaranteed among intergenerational housemates. Alex, a woman in her early 30s, rents one of three rooms in a West LA apartment shared with Liz, a woman in her 70s. Their different expectations show how quickly small household details can become points of tension.

Liz and Alex have to share bathroom space when Alex’s friends and guests visit. Liz also has to leave Alex written notes saying the counter needs to be kept clean at all times. 

Inside a shared home, a bathroom and countertop can become markers of privacy and control.

Neither person has to be a villain for an arrangement to feel uncomfortable. What does “clean” mean? Different generations may have different standards. 

That’s why, ALA says, screening and written agreements matter. People who match online still need to talk through boundaries, and to decide what happens when expectations don’t line up.

Inter-generational living presents both a warning and an opportunity. It is a warning about the cost of living in the city. A spare room cannot solve LA’s housing shortage, and companionship is no substitute for housing people can afford.

But sharing a home can also create an opportunity for connections that the city’s routines rarely encourage. 

LA is a place of long drives, separate schedule, and neighbors who can live-side by-side for years without knowing one another. Inter-generational living an be the antidote to urban isolation.

Sometimes that means negotiating bathroom access and cleaning notes. Sometimes it means coffee, dinner and stories, about building a business in California, decades ago.

There is no silver lining bright enough to make a housing crisis acceptable. Still, when people help each other stay in LA, and find ways to bond along the way, that is something worth celebrating.

Adelle Nazarian is a journalist, entrepreneur and commentator covering politics, culture and technology.