Tricky living arrangments.

[Millay]

Myself and my friends rent a house with three bedrooms, three of us have lived here, for a year and a half no problem.

The bloke with the smallest room pays £7.50 less a month as a token gesture for having the smallest room.

His g/f has now moved in, and tonight we discussed the rent and bills. They are happy for her to share council tax water and electricity etc. but they think that all our rents should stay the same ie they split his rent in half and myself and the other renter pay double they pay.

We think it should be split 4 ways but they totally disagree. on the acocunt that if they went to a bedist they would pay for one room and that there room is the smallest. as a compromise i suggested they turn the lounge into there bedroom, this would give them the biggest room in the house. providing they split everything down the middle.

they think we are being unfair and we think they are. Our friends and family will no doubt side with us, so we cant get a fair view of them. so what do you guys reckon.

a, keep everything the same, they just split there rent 50/50

b, split everything four ways.

c, let them have the lounge and split everything 50/50

[scrotnig]

I would say, if his girlfriend is going to move into his existing room then he's probably right to say he should still pay the same rent overall as they will still only be getting exactly the same individual space.

The offer by the girlfriend to pay her bit of the council tax etc seems fair to me, and personally I'd go with that plan. That way you also get to keep your communal lounge.

[gooner4life]

Sorry its obviously not what you want to hear but I think they are in the right and should pay half and half each, after all its for the same living area, I think they were being decent offering for her to pay her bit of council tax etc personally.

[Charlie_Bubble]

This is the kind of crap that comes with shared houses and made me eventually buy my own place. Too much hassle arguing over stupid things.

I don't think it's right of them to only pay the same as he is paying. They are now 2 people using every shared facility. If anything, their rent share should increase slightly. I think the front room idea is best as they will probably never accept paying more for the current setup.

[Millay]

The problem I have with that argument, and please feel free to disagree.

Its a shared house, all the other rooms in the house are shared areas, if im waiting longer to have a shower etc.. she gets to use all the services.

Im also a little bit more biased towards myself because all the appliances furniiture in the house is mine.. but that is beside the point..

[Rob]

Ah, but the g/f is also going to be getting use of the communal rooms, so there is a loss of "enjoyment" by the two singletons.

It's probably not equitable to do a 4 way split, but also not equitable that she effectively pays nothing towards the rent, which is what she is saying. Perhaps they should be just paying the same for their room, as yourselves? Perhaps a bedroom swap could be arranged?

And you should check your tenancy agreement to see that an extra person is allowed to reside at the house.

[Millay]

sshhhh dont mention the tenancy agreement

[Rob]

Originally Posted by Millay

sshhhh dont mention the tenancy agreement

Ahh, in which case if they are not allowed to live there, they can't be expected to pay rent

[danielf]

Originally Posted by MovedGoalPosts

Ah, but the g/f is also going to be getting use of the communal rooms, so there is a loss of "enjoyment" by the two singletons.

Depends on the girlfriend if you ask me

[Halcyon]

I think she should pay some kind of rent if she is using the house, kitchen, etc. How about her paying half the boyfriends rent extra.
So boyfriend pays £50 plus she pays half of 50, £25 on top.
That should help things.

[daxx]

Using a figure of £200 a week for basic rent (not including utilites council tax and stuff like that)
£100 upstairs
£100 downstairs

Bathroom etc occupies 10% of total upstairs (bedroom) floor area so take £10 off 'upstairs' costs (£90) and add it to 'communal costs'

Bedroom Usage
Using a figure of two 'big rooms' and one small, small room being 1/2 the size of the two big rooms. common divisor is 5
£90 / 5 = £18 per 1/5th share (x2 for the big rooms, twice the size)
£36 your share
£36 the other big room users share
£18 for the 'shared' small room. £9 each

Communal Usage
£110 (downstairs + 10% of upstairs) divide by 4 (total users in the house) = £27.50 each (communal costs)

Your share £36.00 (bedroom) + £27.50 (communal) = £63.50
Other Big share £36.00 (bedroom) + £27.50 (communal) = £63.50
His share £9.00 bedroom + £27.50 (communal) = £36.50
Her share £9.00 bedroom + £27.50 (communal) = £36.50

Total Cost = £200

Bin there done this, and used to doing the figures. Dont forget to add in a bit for using your stuff.

[Rob]

Now that is seriously scientific

[daxx]

Originally Posted by MovedGoalPosts

Now that is seriously scientific

But it works , ahh the power of a rested brain

[Bex]

silly question but was there a joint decision about her moving in, or did he move her in and then discuss the bills? i think she should pay some rent, as when you rent a place you don't just rent the bedroom... there are other rooms, ie communal rooms.

if they got a bed sit yes they would only pay one set price between them, but they wouldn't have the same amount of space etc.

as an aside living with couples can be a damned nightmare... i moved in with three people at uni, two of which were ina couple who argued constantly and consequently broke up....was a nightmare

[allieyoung666]

Can I also ask you a question? Did your friend ask you if the girlyfriend could move in??? If not I would raise the rent as he is clearly taking the mickey out of you guys, also ask the girlfriend to contribute to the gas, leccy etc, it is only fair!!!!