Eliza Wall has been sharing homes with people for about 20 years.
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The Port Macquarie resident will feature in a Mid North Coast film called Our Spaces, which explores what solutions residents can offer to address the housing crisis.
The film has been created by Regional Development Australia Mid North Coast and will be launched on Thursday, August 25 in Port Macquarie. It features three couples who live at Mitchells Island in a purpose-built home, a couple at Valla Beach who opened up their home to people in need and an architect in Coffs Harbour who designs properties with communal aspects.
Regional Development Australia Mid North Coast has found there are 81,000 households, which have one to two spare bedrooms, in the region.
Eliza grew up on the Mid North Coast and moved back to Port Macquarie five years ago, after living in Sydney and overseas.
She purchased her current house, which has four bedrooms, three years ago.
Eliza rents out two of the property's bedrooms.
She uses a website which matches prospective renters with existing occupants.
Finding the 'right fit'
Eliza has some non-negotiables when it comes to living with people, such as being a non-smoker.
She invites potential housemates over to the house to get know them.
The chat involves finding out how people like to use their space, to discover if they are going to be 'a fit'.
"I'm a pretty social person," Eliza said.
"Having someone who stays in their room all the time is probably not going to be a fit for me."
Eliza has made lifelong friends through sharing houses with others.
She's shared with about 30 people over the past 20 years.
Benefits of sharing
Apart from the social benefits, Eliza said sharing a space is beneficial for her financially.
Housemates can help share the cost of a mortgage or rent, and additional extras such as the internet.
Eliza said people can open up their house to others in a way that suits their personal lifestyle.
"I think there are some barriers for people who like their own space," she said.
However, she said people can find ways where they can still have personal space, such as renting with a shift worker.
Eliza understands people might have reservations about living with others. Majority of her experiences have been positive ones.
"Most people are amazing and honest," she said.
"They are really just looking for a safe place to call home."
Our Space film launch
Regional Development Australia Mid North Coast CEO Kerry Grace said the Our Spaces film was created to highlight solutions to address the region's housing crisis.
"We know that housing is a wicked problem," she said.
"We started looking for community-led solutions, which can help to create accommodation for key workers in particular."
Regional Development Australia research showed residents, particularly those on lower incomes, were struggling to find affordable housing.
"We were seeing worker shortages resulting from lack of housing," Kerry said.
"It was having a really terrible spin-off effect."
Kerry said the film explores a range of ways people are using space to create more homes.
There are three couples who live at Mitchells Island in purpose-built home, there's a couple at Valla Beach who opened up their home to people in need and an architect in Coffs Harbour who designs properties with communal aspects.
For more information about the Our Spaces film launch on August 25, please visit www.eventbrite.com
Tickets are by donation to support Lifeline Mid North Coast.
