Single-Person Household Satisfaction of Personal Spaces in Shared Houses

Recently, shared houses in Korea are attracting attention among single-person households and young people. However, it is often built at low design costs, so user satisfaction is low. In residential spaces, user satisfaction is very important as it directly relates to residents’ quality of life. The purpose of this study is, therefore, to identify satisfaction of shared house residents, in regard to their own personal space. An online survey was conducted on 316 single-person households, people in their 20s and 30s. The spatial elements of a shared house are composed of four elements: space composition, color and finishing materials, furniture arrangement, and indoor environment. These elements are further subdivided into sub-elements. Space composition includes the bedroom location and size, the convenience of access to the bedroom, and storage space, among others. Color and finishing materials include the colors and finishing materials of the closet, cabinet, walls and floors. Furniture arrangement includes bed and closet size, cabinet size, bed and closet type, and number of cabinets. Indoor environment includes lighting color and control, soundproofing condition, window size and location, ventilation and solar radiation. According to the user satisfaction evaluation, furniture arrangement was deemed to be most important among residents, followed by color and finishing materials, indoor environment, and space composition. According to user satisfaction with sub-elements, the convenience of access to the bedroom, the color of the closet, the size of the cabinet, and the soundproofing condition was low. To enhance housing satisfaction among single-person households and young individuals, it is necessary to improve the convenience of access to the bedroom, selecting an attractive closet color, checking the appropriate cabinet size, and soundproofing condition in the indoor environment. The elements of shared houses should be well planned to increase the satisfaction of both single-person households and young people.