The Friendship Economy:

How Single Brits are Beating the Singles Tax

Beating the Single Tax by Clubbing Together, Not Coupling Up

Does it seem to you like the singles tax is still being talked about as if it’s a minor issue?

Sometimes it feels like the whole of the UK economy is geared up to reward people who find a partner, and no one else. Nobody cares if you work really hard, but if you manage to get into a serious relationship, congratulations, now you can finally afford to live!

If you look back at the facts we’ve shared in some of our previous articles, or just check the latest news reports, you’ll know expensive life is for someone going solo.

It just keeps getting worse. The average private rent in the UK in May cost about £1,383 a month. The average Band C council tax bill in from 2026  to 2027 is around £2027,  although you can knock off 25% (but not 50%) of that if you’re living alone.

Ofgem’s price cap puts a ‘typical’ energy direct debit household at £1,862, after a 13% rise. Aviva found people living alone spend almost £1,250 a month on fixed costs before the fun stuff even gets a look in, and 58% of single adults aren’t confident they could handle an unexpected £850 bill.

So yes, single life is expensive, for everyone. Yet we still get the same advice. Cut back, stay with your parents, or worse, look at dating as option for financial stability rather than finding your future soulmate and partner.

Fortunately, some younger single people are finding a different route.

Clubbing Together, Not Coupling Up 

What’s horrible about the single tax is that it’s so invisible until you’re paying it. You don’t get a bill labelled “single person penalty”, you’re just expected to handle everything on a single person’s salary,

And yes, I know, you could say, “That’s the way it is, single people have to expect to pay more when there’s nobody to split the bills.” Fair enough, but married people in the UK get allowances and tax breaks that single people don’t get (even though single people have less money).

Plus, single people get charged extra for things all the time. Single supplements for travel, gas and electricity standing charges that don’t match their usage, communication and streaming subscriptions that are technically priced “per household”, not per person.

This is a problem that’s bothered single people of all ages for years. Younger people in particular, are getting concerned. ONS’s April 2026 public opinion data found 96% of 16 to 29-year-olds named the cost of living as an important issue.

Some are staying in relationships just because they don’t have the finances to go it alone. Other single people are taking a more interesting proactive stance: banding together instead of coupling up. Bringing friends together to form a personal economy, and share the costs. Here are some ideas you can use if you want to get involved.

1. Buddy Up for Flat Hunting or Co-Buying

Flat hunting alone is hard enough before you add 2026 rent prices into the equation. SpareRoom put the average UK room rent at £747 a month in Q1 2026, or £668 if you take inner London out. London was £987. For a room, not a whole flat.

When you buddy up, instead of scrolling through spare rooms in homes where the existing tenants have already decided the rules, two or three single friends search together. You become a ready-made household. You choose the area, the rent ceiling, the landlord, the move-in date, the bills setup and the level of domestic chaos you’re willing to tolerate.

The savings don’t stop at rent. A group can split broadband, council tax, cleaning supplies, kitchen basics, a TV licence,  furniture, moving boxes, a printer, a toolkit, a heated airer, a dehumidifier and  all the other household gadgets we accumulate.

Yes, you need to be serious about figuring out who gets the “biggest room” and what the rules of living are, but usually, that’s worth it.

Obviously, there’s another option here too, buying a house with a friend (or a few). That’s a slightly scarier option, because its absolutely vital you really look into it and get the legal stuff sorted out (buying as joint tenants or tenants in common, for instance, and getting a deed of trust written up), but the idea’s gaining ground.

A third of Brits now say they’d consider buying a home with a sibling or a friend to get onto the properly ladder. So you may want to think about renting  together first, then buy later (when you know you can live together).

2. Modern Co-Living with One Monthly Bill

Co-living isn’t always cheap, but for single renters constantly exhausted by surprise bills, it can be a good way to save cash. First, you move to a home with your chosen friends (and establish your living agreements), then you bundle everything into one monthly bill, divided a few ways.

By everything, I mean the rent (or mortgage payments), the council tax, energy bills, subscriptions, monthly food costs, and whatever else you need. Some people assign one person (usually the most organized), to keep track of everyone’s contributions and handle the payments.

I know one group that actually set up a shared bank account for the whole thing. Everyone contributes their share each month, and can see where the money’s being spent. They also did another handy “little extra” pot, for things that go wrong, like when the house has an issue that needs fixing, or when everyone wants to join together to pay for a Christmas party.

I’d obviously say be careful with this. Make sure everyone has a direct debit set up for the amount they agree to, settle monthly, and never “lend” from your shared fund.

When anything that’s not included on the monthly bill comes up, don’t make one person responsible for choosing what to spend. Get everyone to agree.

3. Bulk Buying Clubs and Mini Food Co-Ops

I love bulk buying, personally. We all know it’s a great way to save money. Trouble is, as a single person, you quickly realise you don’t have space for a 25kg sack of anything. Food, in particular, is going to get wasted before you use it on your own.

A small buying club fixes that. Groups of friends come together and buy food from the same supplier at wholesale prices, then they share everything between them. You could even share a single Costco card or something similar. Our advice is to bulk buy the easy stuff:

• rice, pasta, oats, lentils and tins
• coffee, tea, oil and basic spices
• loo roll, laundry liquid and cleaning spray
• shampoo, soap and toothpaste
• frozen veg and batch-cooking basics
• pet food if several people have pets
• bin bags, foil, cling film and dishwasher tablets

Then use a shared pantry spreadsheet to track what was bought, who paid, what gets split, and what’s already in stock. You can also keep an eye on what’s about to expire. If you’re worried about freezer space, ask a friend to help there, too. One friend with garage space can install a second freezer that everyone helps to pay for. Its cheaper to fun a full than half empty freezer anyway.

4. Batch Cooking Circles and Freezer Swaps

Food is where living alone gets properly annoying. Everyone says “buy in bulk” as if that fixes it, but bulk buying only helps if you can store it, use it, and turn it into meals you actually want. A freezer full of chicken pasta sounds sensible until you’re eating it again on Thursday and staring into the tub with a nauseous look. So, create a batch cooking circle.

Four or more friends each cook one big dish, portion it up, and swap. Everyone gets a freezer full of different meals without cooking four separate times. It also cuts down the classic single-person food waste problem. That kind of idea really helps now, particularly since the Food Foundation’s June 2026 tracker says UK food prices are a whacking 30.5% higher than they were in April 2022. 

This can also work for fake takeaway nights. Instead of everyone spending £18 each on delivery because the week has been exhausting, one person makes loaded chips, one brings supermarket naan, one makes noodles, one sorts dessert. It scratches the takeaway itch without the app fees, delivery charge, and weird guilt afterwards.

5. Olio, Too Good To Go, And The Surplus-Food Group Chat

This another great way to save money with a friend economy, and beat the single tax, without having to live with your BFFs.

Surplus-food apps are useful on your own. They’re much better with a group chat. One person can’t always use a giant bag of pastries, three loaves, or a box of random veg before it goes stale. Five people can make that disappear fast.

Olio is useful for free food from local shops and neighbours. Too Good To Go is good for surplus bags from cafés, restaurants and shops, usually much cheaper than buying full price. The saving gets better when it isn’t just one person checking. One friend sees the bakery bag, another can collect it, someone else takes the bread, and the person with freezer space saves the rest from becoming bin food.

This kind of sharing is getting more normal, too. Lidl GB announced in May 2026 that it was trialling a partnership with Olio across 20 stores in London and Northern England, with ambitions for a national rollout by the end of the year. That’s a big clue that surplus food is moving from “nice community idea” to proper cost-of-living infrastructure.

6. Subscription Sharing, Legally And Carefully

We have to be careful with this one because subscription services are getting a bit annoyed about how accounts are shared. You can share a Netflix account with people in the same household, but you can’t just give your password out to anyone anymore.

Same thing for Spotify Premium, it’s only for people living at the same address. If you’re not living with your friends, but you want to cut the costs of subscriptions, try leapfrogging instead. You pick one or two services per month (hopefully taking advantage of a new sign-up discount or offer), watch everything you want, then cancel the subscription, and move onto the next.

Although it sounds a little sneaky, it’s better than collecting subscriptions like special stamps and only using them once or twice a week.

Then check the subscriptions that genuinely allow sharing. Some mobile providers give multi-line discounts when extra plans sit under one account, which can work for housemates, siblings or close family. Broadband and mobile bundles are worth checking too if everyone lives under the same roof and the bill split won’t cause drama.

You can also think about sharing access to:

• Cloud storage
• Recipe apps
• Audiobook subscriptions
• Photo editing apps
• Fitness platforms
• Delivery passes
• Online news subscriptions

Get a few friends to check which subscriptions they’re actually paying for and list them. I bet you’ll find at least some you can share.

8. Commuting Pods, Lift-Sharing, And Car Clubs

Owning a car alone is a financial headache with wheels. Insurance, MOT, tax, parking, servicing, tyres, fuel, repairs, breakdown cover. A couple can split some of that pain, or at least share the use of one car. A single person gets the full bill.

Commuting pods are a good place to start. Three colleagues who live near each other, and work hybrid don’t need three cars crawling to the same office car park on Tuesday and Thursday. Rotate the driving. Split fuel. Share parking. Agree pickup points that don’t make one person do a 25-minute detour.

Liftshare says its average members save over £1,000 a year. That’s a proper emergency fund start, a holiday, a dent in a credit card, or several months of council tax.

Car clubs are useful for the single person who doesn’t need a car every day, but still needs one for big shops, IKEA runs, moving boxes, visiting family, or collecting a Facebook Marketplace bargain. You don’t need to join an official one, create your own with friends and family members.

9. Libraries Of Things And Informal Stuff Circles

You could argue that single renters get mugged by one-off purchases. You start by buying a drill for one shelf, promising yourself it’s going to come in handy. Then it’s a steamer for your wedding outfit, a suitcase for a holiday, a pressure washer for the back garden, and so on.

Set up to help people avoid buying things. Library of Things says people can rent 45-plus useful items from 22 London based locations at the moment.Great if you live there, but again, you don’t need an official programme. Just a friend group. Band together with some pals and create a shared list of what everyone has and feels willing to lend. You’re guaranteed to find someone with something you need.

Set the rules before anyone borrows anything. Break it, replace it. Return it dirty, clean it. If it costs real money, take a photo before it leaves the house. If someone says no, leave it there. Friendship doesn’t mean automatic access to everyone’s stuff.

This also works for moving. Keep a shared stash of boxes, tape, Allen keys, screwdrivers, and bubble wrap . Moving is already expensive enough without five single people buying the same supplies every year because nobody thought to keep them.

10. Skill and Service Swaps

This is where friends can save each other serious money, as long as nobody tries to turn a single capable person into the group’s workhorse.

Couples and families absorb loads of skills internally. There’s always someone who’s great with animals and always available to take an extra dog for a walk, or check in on your other pets while you’re away. Then there’s someone who’s usually happy to babysit if someone does it for them later in the month. Plus someone who knows how to help with IT fixes, build the flat-pack furniture, hem trousers, or keep the garden looking fantastic.

The best way to run something like amongst a friendship group is to make sure everyone gets equal value. If someone’s offering a clothing repair service to all their friends once a month, they should be able to take advantage of something else, like painting touch-ups in the house, or garden cleaning.

One hour for one hour works well, keep a list of who’s giving, and make sure they’re getting just as much in return.