House sharing when you have kids - any thoughts or advice?

[lunavix]

Due to severe housing problem, I am contemplating house sharing with another mum, who has a ds of four. I have two dc's, ds who's nearly four and dd who's 1.5

We have to find a suitable four bed property, which should work out the same price as if we found a two bed each, the problem being that there are no two beds locally, particularly that will let to people who can receive some housing benefit (as we both can.)

I'm wondering about the practicalities. Eg, ownership of items and any disputes if it gets petty (eg my kettle, her toaster), space in the evenings if we don't find a house with two living areas, bring people back, cleaning, cooking...

I haven't actually met her yet, although I've met her son who is lovely. I work as a childminder so she needs to be CRB'd. She works longer hours than I do, so she won't be around during my 'office hours'

Any thoughts or suggestions?

I have experience of this. I currently live in 1 3 bedroomed flat with my 3 year old dd and we have let out our spare bedroom for over a year now- the first time to a friend while she studied, and this time to a girl on a year abroad who I heard about from a contact at work. Both have been great to have around, and my dd loves the extra attention. I could not manage without the extra income. In this area, I could not find even a 2 bedroom house for cheaper, and the concil list is years long.
I have two friends who shared a house with their dc while they were studying at university. One was under 1, the other about 3. I think financially it worked out well for them, but the mothers were very different people, and it did end up with bad situations- one mum was a bit of a party animal and so left the other babysitting a lot, which I do think caused resentment. It all depends. Any flatshare even with the best of friends can go wrong.