Rent surge in America driving seniors to hunt for 'boommates'

When Mr Dan Yafet's son moved out of their apartment in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighbourhood, he found himself with too much space and not enough money - so he took on an octogenarian roommate.

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Now Mr Yafet, a 68-year-old who works for an architect's office, shares his fourth-floor walk-up with 86-year-old Alan Ferber, splitting the US$2,000 (S$2,600) monthly rent for the two-bedroom apartment.

"We don't throw parties, but it's a good set-up," Mr Ferber said. "We don't get in each other's".

An uptick in so-called "boommates" - roommates of the baby boomer generation - is the latest manifestation of a housing affordability crisis that has slammed Americans of all ages, especially those in expensive cities like New York. To make ends meet, an increasing number of those 65 and older are choosing shared housing arrangements, helping save money in an era when many have fallen behind on retirement savings and there is increasing concern about a loneliness epidemic.

Harvard University's Joint Centre for Housing Studies (JCHS) estimates that almost a million people over the age of 65 now live with unrelated housemates. Roommate finder sites have seen an influx of older users, with Spare Room experiencing its fastest growth among that cohort. And one in four roommates in the United States is aged 45 or above, according to the site, a figure that has more than doubled in the past decade.