In recent years, real estate proposals have emerged that allow the purchase of a room within a shared apartment, almost as if it were a product independent from the rest of the home. What just a decade ago would have seemed like a marginal idea or even a sign of desperation is now beginning to be presented as a “modern”, “creative” or, worse still, “realistic” option in the face of soaring housing prices. And this rapid normalization should be a cause for concern. Not because those who accept this arrangement are making an individual mistake, but because society itself is starting to see as reasonable something that, in essence, is not.

Housing has always been understood as a space where a person or a family can live with a minimum of stability, privacy and autonomy. Proposing the purchase of a single room, with kitchens, living rooms and bathrooms shared with strangers, represents a drastic reduction of that idea. The home ceases to be a complete unit and is reduced to a room and a corridor. The full dwelling, what has always been considered a basic right, is implicitly reserved for those who can afford to pay the inflated market price. This operation conveys an implicit but very clear message: “If you cannot afford decent housing, at least you will be able to own a room”. Ownership, in this context, becomes a symbolic consolation, a kind of placebo that appears to offer security but does not guarantee what has historically justified the value of a home: autonomy, stability and a space of one’s own in the full sense of the word.

CONTINUE READING (Article in Spanish)

Article published in Expansión.
Photo by Guillaume TECHER on Unsplash.