The inner Sydney suburbs of Chippendale and Darlington are Australia’s leaders when it comes to shared accommodation according to Flatmates.com.au.

Analysis from the online shared accommodation portal claims that 22% of all private residential properties in the 2008 post code, which covers the two suburbs, are being used as shared accommodation.

Thomas Clement, chief executive of Flatmates.com.au, said the Chippendale and Darlington taking top spot on the list may show there is a need to reassess what people who live in shared accommodation are looking for.

“When we think of share suburbs in say, Sydney, we think of Surry Hills, Darlinghurst, and Newtown, not Chippendale or Darlington,” Clement said.

“On reflection, however, it does make sense for a suburb like Chippendale to top the list given that it’s centrally located to the city and universities, well connected by public transport and has become increasingly cosmopolitan. It shares this commonality with many of the suburbs that ranked highly,” he said.

Following Sydney’s 2008 postcode, Melbourne’s 3000 and Brisbane’s 4000, which cover the respective CBDs of the two cities have the next highest concentration of share houses, with 19% of all properties being used for the purpose.

Sydney’s 2007 postcode, which covers the suburb of Ultimo, comes in fifth with 18% of properties used as share housing.

With 17% of homes being used as share accommodation, Sydney’s 2007 postcode (Pyrmont) and Brisbane’s 4067 (St Lucia and St Lucia South) were tied for fifth spot.

Melbourne’s 3003 postcode (West Melbourne) and Sydney’s 2026 (Bondi – Tamarama) tied for seventh spot with 14% of properties used as share houses.

Melbourne’s 3000 postcode (Southbank) took ninth spot with 13% of properties used as share houses, while Sydney’s 2000 (CBD) claimed tenth place at 12%.

According to Flatmates.com.au, 26 postcodes across Australia had at least one in 10 dwellings that were shared while a further 70 postcodes had between five and 10% of dwellings.

Flatmates.com.au came up with the figures through comparing advertisements on its website with private dwelling data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.