5 Tips for House Sharing

1. Find the right housematesdies of legionnaires disease, or you could decide to
Finding the right people for your house share.orkeep the place clean and tidy. They best way to
flatshare.is critical. Don’t be tempted just to goachieve this is to make a rota of all of the chores
for convenience – i.e. a room is available in athat everybody sticks to right from the beginning,
shared house in the right place and at the rightand at least there’s something to refer to if
budget. Don’t forget that you have to live withsomebody is not pulling their weight!
these people, so take a little bit of time and effort4. Budget for household bills
to see whether you think they would drive you upAlthough you probably all pay your own rent by
the wall or not (or vice versa!)direct debit, or directly to the landlord, don’t
2. Establish some ground rulesforget other household bills. Our tip here is to agree a
One of the things most likely to cause friction in aweekly or monthly budget that each
house share is members of the household behaving inhousematecontributes an agreed amount to, so that
a manner acceptable to other housemates. So whyfunds are always in place when the bills arrive.
not establish some ground rules regarding loud music,5. Treat your housemates how you would like to be
visitors, replacing the toilet roll, etc., and if everybodytreated
plays by those rules then there is a much greaterThis is probably the simplest but more important tip
chance of harmony.of all. If you behave towards others in terms of your
3. Work out a rotahabits around the house as you would like them to
There are some jobs that need doing, but nobodybehave towards you then they are more likely to
likes doing them. There are several ways ofreciprocate. After all, it’s all about living together
approaching this in a house share. You could decideand if you generally get on, most people will make a
to live in the dirt that you create until the first personlittle effort.