It also depends on the sex of the kids

I think the lesson should be that if you're going to have that many kids you need to prepare yourself for the costs of a bigger house. It's not the 1950s anymore where it's ok to have 8 kids in a 3x1, reality back then was larger houses were hard to come by and older kids didn't spend a lot of time in their bedrooms. It was just for sleeping and getting dressed. Studying was at the library and they were taking themselves to friends, sports or just hanging around so they would basically be gone all day and out of each other's faces. Today is totally different, siblings are dragged everywhere together until they are old enough to stay home on their own which is quite old these days. They do homework and study at home so if there's nowhere to study it's in their bedrooms. Having friends over has replaced just wandering around the streets or parks so if they share a room they can't get away from their siblings to spend time with their friends. You also have to hope that none of them have behavioural issues as it's not fair for siblings to have to share a room with that.

Growing up we had my parents and 8 kids. 3 girls and 5 boys and oldest to youngest went girl, girl, boy, boy, boy, boy, girl, boy. I was the eldest and shared a room with my youngest brother because I used to get up to him through the night, my 2 sister's and the 2nd youngest boy shared a room and the 3 middle boys shared a room and mum and dad had a room. You make do with what you have and we are all still very close now. My partner and I have 3 kids between us, his son has his own room and the 2 girls share because we can't afford anything bigger than a 3 bedroom house right now

No some people can't afford bigger houses & have to make do. Multiple bedrooms are a luxury not a need.

Realistically that's how many of our parents grew up often more crammed in. If you can't afford more rooms then of course it's fair, it's life, what other option is there? Instead focus your energies on teaching them to understand each other's difference / age / respecting space/ boundaries, sharing duties to keep it clean, brainstorm agreeable expectations with business erc. Those skills will make them great colleagues, flatmates, partners etc

That's like 2 kids/room with one extra in one. So, I think that's fair. I have 4 kids and they usually all end up sharing a bed at night anyway. They'll want to have a sleepover and will organise it amongst themselves. Drives me mad. Why the fuck did we buy 4 beds when we could have just bought one big one.

More info please. I'd put the 17 year old by themselves and pair the others up. Possibly if there is a big gap with the 17 year old and the others are younger i'd be putting the smaller ones in bunks and sharing. Study / homework wise etc. Also in a year they will be 18, possibly studying etc.

What ages and sexes?

If you were applying for state housing they would not let you live in a house with less than 5 bedrooms and when your 17 year old turns 18 it would have to be 6 bedrooms. Just as a bit of a guideline because real estates probably use the same formula.

If there's no other option then it has to be. You'll have to get the right combination according to age and sex. We were a family of 8 in a 3 bedroom house. Mum and dad had 1 room and 5 girls and 1 boy were put into the other 2 rooms with bunk beds. I was the youngest so I don't remember who went where but apparently it worked

That depend on a whole lot of other factors. Ages, genders, kid's personalities, how big the rest of the house is etc. Ultimately if the choice is share or don't have anywhere to sleep, then they share.

I agree with everyone else, it depends the ages.

If there's one teenager and a bunch of younger kids, I think the younger kids would love sharing and the teen would need some space.

However, if most of them are teens, it would be a bit much to have 3 in a room.

It depends on the kids. I tried having my 2 young boys share a room for a year and it was horrible. They argued non-stop when they usually get along well. We would avoid having them share a room again as it didn't work for us.

In saying that my neighbours kids share rooms and love it because they are scared of the dark and not alone. It really depends on the kids personalities.

How old are they all? I have teenagers and couldn't imagine them sharing that would be one very unhappy household. Under 10's I think are fine sharing but after that they need space. Is there a garage you can turn into a bedroom for the eldest? Or turn an old caravan into a bedroom.