Searching for a place to live is often stressful – especially when it comes to cohousing. Finding a room that you like, in a good location, and with roommates that you enjoy spending time with can be tough. That’s where The Roomies comes in – the Belgian cohousing site collects and displays all cohousing posts in Belgium in one spot!
‘Cohousing is a trendy way of living together where it is important that everyone feels at home. However, when I was looking for a place myself, I noticed how hard it is to find a room that you like. There are a lot of offers out there but they are just not well-organised’, Franck Monballiu, one of the company’s three co-founders, told us. Together with Wout Poncelet and Elias Moons he decided to build a platform where cohousing locations are not only brought together but that is also well-organised and easy to use – for both the people offering rooms, as well as those looking for one.
User-friendliness was one of the core design priorities for the team when they set up the platform. Several search filters allow users to find exactly the rooms that meet their expectations. Using the platform does not require a subscription or payment to facilitate the room search, saving users time and money. When registered and signed in (merely requiring a few contact details), users can also start contacting potential landlords or future roommates via email. Currently, Elias—a computer engineer by trade—is working on the integration of a secure in-platform chat to further smooth the process.
Courtesy of The Roomies
Only launched mid-2021, The Roomies is already gaining traction. For now, it’s only available in Belgium. ‘It’s a market we know well, and we saw the right conditions to make this opportunity a success’, Franck explained.
In the team of three engineers, The Roomies does not have a regulatory expert on board. Like most start-ups across the European Union, Franck and the team are fully focused on getting their business up and running. ‘We’re a small team, so everyone has to do a bit of everything, including marketing, management, and stakeholder relations’, Franck said, adding that regulatory changes are important to keep an eye on as well.
On a European level, policymakers are indeed debating the Digital Services Act (DSA) which includes language around the extent to which platforms are liable for the content users upload, as well as how platforms should handle harmful or inappropriate content. This regulation would require even the smallest platforms, like The Roomies, to remove such content within specified time periods and report content-related actions to regulators.
While this legislation is aimed at much larger platforms, in some cases obligations can apply to large companies and small businesses alike. Cumulative compliance costs for different pieces of legislation for digital SMEs already disproportionately harm these small businesses. Our SME members could face harsh consequences simply because they don’t have the resources of their much larger competitors. Therefore, the European institutions should ensure that new laws do not disproportionately affect companies like The Roomies, instead enabling them to grow and compete.
We are proud to have The Roomies as a member, and we look forward to seeing their cohousing platform develop and expand. You can learn more about The Roomies—or find your next place to call home—on theroomies.be.