Ludwina Dautovic’s The Room Xchange is providing a new way for people to access mid to long term accommodation in Australia – Xchanging.
The Room Xchange is a mid to long-term accommodation platform that turns empty bedrooms and everyday skills into valuable assets. It connects stressed, busy households with guests who provide two hours of help around the house each day in ‘xchange’ for food and accommodation. “It provides immediate relief to critical housing and economic issues by unlocking over seven million unused spare bedrooms across Australia, by connecting time-poor hosts with guests who commit to 14 hours of household help each week,” said Ludwina. “Hosts get some time back and much needed domestic support. Guests gain access to affordable housing, save around $20,000 a year and obtain a reference that could help them get a hand up into the rental market.”
Ludwina believes that by providing customers with a viable option, it can set them up as a successful future tenant and creates a culture of social responsibility within the real estate agency. With Australia now ranked as the most expensive place to live in the world, and house prices growing faster than both inflation and wages, Ludwina says Australians are increasingly being locked out of the housing market. Millennials and university students are particularly affected, as are people who have fallen into tough times financially.
In November, Ludwina is cooking and cleaning for a host in Elizabeth Bay in Sydney in a bid to show xchanging as a viable solution for people stuck in the housing affordability trap. She is documenting her journey via Facebook live videos and blogs in the hope it will attract the right attention in the housing affordability conversation. “Imagine if the real estate industry looked at The Room Xchange as a rental apprenticeship; as a third option for people struggling to enter an expensive and highly competitive rental market.”
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