Rachel Cohen

Local regulation compounds these challenges.

Some communities still have outdated laws that enforce traditional nuclear family living arrangements.

Their zoning codes define family as those related by blood, marriage, or adoption, with occasional exceptions for domestic servants.

These restrictive rules can be wielded against not just home-sharing programs, but also larger, often immigrant, intergenerational families living together.

The laws are enforced when people want them to be, said LeBlanc of PadSplit.

If you have a neighbor who doesn't want affordable housing in their neighborhood, then you absolutely see an issue with it.

Advancing the Future of Home-Sharing

Despite these barriers, several states have begun updating their housing policies.

Over the past few years, Colorado, Iowa, Oregon, and Washington have all passed laws banning or restricting family-based occupancy limits.

At the federal level, the Department of Housing and Urban Development took a

The conversation is expanding beyond just policy changes.

Last spring, leaders in housing, finance, and social services convened for a Harvard University symposium on the future of intergenerational housing.

Their October report emphasized design choices that could foster connection.

Even spaces as mundane as lobbies and stairwells are being reconsidered.

In one New York City housing complex, the laundry room was placed next to the rooftop garden so that parents and grandparents could play with children, practice tai chi, or attend to gardening projects while washing their clothes.

Some jurisdictions are learning from parallel efforts.

After California eased restrictions on accessory dwelling units in 2016, developers built over 80,000 new housing units over the next six years, providing a model that states like Massachusetts, Oregon, and Vermont have since followed.

Marcus of Nesterley sees potential for similar momentum in home sharing if more local governments create supportive policies.

She points to the UK's Rent-a-Room scheme, where homeowners can earn tax-free rental income by renting rooms in their primary residence.

In Tampa, Florida, 61-year-old Quantia Hollowell shares a six-bedroom pad split home with five people.