Sharing a house can be a fun and affordable way to live. However, whenever you have a bunch of people living under the same roof, things are bound to get tricky.
So whether you’re moving out of home for the first time, or need a more flexible rental option, these house sharing tips will help you sail through the process.
1. Choosing Housemates
Before sharing a home, the most important thing is to choose the right housemates. If you’re choosing from total strangers, then be sure to do your research first.
Check details like rental history, employment, and ideally ask for personal references. You may even want to do a Google and social media search to gather more background on their character and lifestyle habits.
If you’re moving in with friends, it’s still a good idea to honestly assess your compatibility first, before you dive right in.
2. Setting Up Ground Rules
Your home is your sanctuary, so setting up some house sharing rules beforehand will help avoid awkward situations.
For instance, if your flatmate burns the midnight oil, whilst you like to meditate at sunrise, then your schedules could clash. Likewise, if you’re a social bunny who entertains friends every weekend, but your flatmate is strictly solitary, then this could be an issue too.
Try to be flexible and find some common ground that works for everyone’s routines, so each person is respected and can enjoy their own space.
3. Signing The Lease
When it comes to sharing a rental property, the most practical option is to sign the lease agreement in everyone’s name. A “co-tenancy” lease, ensures everyone has equal responsibility and lowers the risk of people leaving without notice or owing money.
4. Working Out Rental Payments
Whilst it is common for rental payments to be split evenly between tenants, there are situations where one person may pay more. For instance, if you have the master bedroom, complete with ensuite and balcony, then paying a little more rent makes sense.
Another way to calculate the rent, is to work out the square meterage for each bedroom and divide the rent accordingly. Whichever way you decide to split the payments, make sure each person knows exactly how much their share is, when it’s due, and the method in which they’ll pay.
5. Co-ordinating Cleaning
One of the biggest potential problems when house sharing is navigating the cleaning and household chores. To keep things fair, the best idea is to create a household roster.
Tasks like cleaning the bathroom and kitchen, dusting and vacuuming, or taking the bins out etc, all get rotated evenly between housemates. Better still, make the decision to all chip in and hire a cleaner, so there’s no dispute over who, where or when.
6. Navigating Food & Cooking
Have a friendly chat with your housemates and decide how you will manage the grocery shopping, cooking and food storage. To make things easier, consider setting up a labelling system for fridge and pantry items. Each housemate is designated their own shelf and/or labels their items, so there is no confusion.
Decide on the cooking arrangements also. Choose at least one night a week where everyone sits down and shares a meal together. Not only will it help you save money, but it will also help you bond as housemates.
7. Paying The Bills
No-one likes to pay bills, so it’s understandable they can become a point of conflict when sharing a house. Again, make sure you have a chat about what the bills there are, when they’re due, and how they need to be paid. Then, delegate one person to be responsible for monitoring all payments.
8. Communicating Clearly
Respecting each others differences is really important when house sharing. That’s why clear communication is your best friend. Always be honest and upfront about any issues and make time to resolve them face-to-face in a calm manner.
Whilst addressing issues directly with a housemate might feel uncomfortable, it’s the only way to ensure any problems don’t escalate and harmony is restored.
9. Making Time To Be Social
A happy shared house is always one that has a sense of community and connection. Make the effort to socialise with your housemates on a regular basis. This could be as simple as arranging a weekly movie or board game night, visiting your local wine bar for a few drinks, or arranging monthly themed dinner parties. Whatever social activity you choose, the upside is you’ll get to know each other better, have fun, and make your share house, feel more like a happy home.