Hi Chapos throwaway for obvious reasons.

I’ve managed to buy an apartment, two bedrooms. I live in it, but I rent the other room out. Is it unethical for me to hide that I’m the owner?

I don’t really lie-lie, like if I’m asked straight up I’ll answer, but I’ll avoid it if possible.

It’s mostly because it creates an odd power dynamic and I’d rather have a flatmate than a tenant if that makes sense.

Reason I bought is I don’t want to deal with landlords, obviously.

Do I get the wall?

  • Awoo [she/her]
    ·
    2 months ago

    I don't think you should hide it, and I think the dynamic itself really depends on whether the "rent" here is substantially more than your share.

    You don't have a flatmate if you're charging that flatmate more than your own costs, that's not mutual housesharing, it's about profit.

    I'd be charitable about it and assume you do actually mean equal living though because there's no way for anyone here to know one way or another. In which case if it is basically sharing of house costs fairly then it's not really the same as landlording even if you technically own it.

    • GuiltyConscience [he/him]
      ·
      2 months ago

      I’m technically charging less than my costs. But also, it’s quite common for houses to be rented out for less than the cost of ownership. We call it negative gearing, idea being to make a loss on paper after interest on the mortgage for tax reasons. (The real profit comes from capital gain.)

      That said, I don’t have the capital to make it positively geared.

      • Awoo [she/her]
        ·
        2 months ago

        I don't really mind this all that much. Willing to be charitable about it. I would not agree with hiding it though.

        I don't know how different I am to other leftists on this but I don't think 1 or 2 home owners are the bulk of our problem. Ok most of them are petty-bourgeoise tyrants but also many are just people that don't know better.

        You're a communist, you know what's fair and what exploitation is. I think you will know if you're crossing that line. Ultimately nobody here will have enough information to know for sure one way or another so we can only urge you to act responsibly.

        I get it though. I had an inheritance from a bereavement that threw me into a similar situation of owning more property than I planned on owning at one point. I suspect that's not an uncommon experience.