Portland, Oregon, is experimenting with a new strategy to expand housing supply: paying homeowners to rent out their spare bedrooms.
The city recently launched a 12-month home-sharing pilot program offering financial incentives to homeowners who rent unused rooms through approved home-sharing providers such as PadSplit. Officials hope the program will unlock underutilized housing space while providing more affordable options for renters.
Under the program, homeowners can receive $1,000 for renting out their first spare bedroom and $500 for each additional room, with payments issued after the room has been successfully rented for at least 30 days.
The initiative is funded through about $500,000 approved by city leaders and administered by the Portland Housing Bureau and is designed to test whether home sharing can help address the city’s ongoing housing shortage.
Turning spare bedrooms into housing supply
City officials say many spare bedrooms across Portland sit unused, representing a potential source of relatively quick housing supply.
Instead of waiting for new construction, the pilot aims to activate existing inventory by connecting homeowners with renters seeking lower-cost housing.
Participants must rent the rooms through approved home-sharing providers such as PadSplit, a co-living platform that connects renters with furnished rooms in shared homes.
The company has expanded rapidly in recent years and now operates tens of thousands of rooms across dozens of U.S. cities, often targeting workers seeking affordable housing near job centers.
In Portland’s program, rooms must rent for no more than $200 per week, including utilities, which equates to roughly $800 per month. To qualify, homeowners must live in the property, rent to someone who is not a relative and commit to making the room available during the pilot program.
A new approach to affordability
The program reflects a growing interest among cities in expanding housing supply without lengthy development timelines.
Home-sharing programs are emerging as one potential solution. By converting existing space into rental housing, policymakers hope to create new units more quickly and at a lower cost than through traditional construction.
Portland officials say the model could help renters such as service workers, students and others seeking lower-cost or flexible housing options.
While supporters see the initiative as a creative way to expand housing options, its long-term impact remains uncertain.
Programs that rely on homeowners voluntarily renting rooms can be difficult to scale, and participation levels will likely determine whether the approach meaningfully increases housing supply.
The program is not designed specifically to address homelessness, and the roughly $800 monthly rent level may still be out of reach for many households experiencing housing instability.
Still, city officials say the pilot will provide valuable data on whether home sharing could play a larger role in Portland’s housing strategy.
If successful, it could become a model for other cities exploring ways to unlock underused residential space.
