10 House Sharing Tips When Renting – Live Your Best Life!

Though it may seem a little daunting, sharing a house with others (whether they be your mates or a set of total strangers) can be a really fun experience which you’ll end up looking back on with fond memories. Given the rising costs of renting up and down the UK, it’s hardly surprising that more and more people are choosing to move into shared accommodation. If it’s something that you’re also looking into, then check out our top 10 house sharing tips to help you have the absolute best experience when renting in a shared house!

What are the Benefits of House Sharing When Renting?

There’s no shortage of benefits that come with house sharing when renting. Most of these benefits can broadly be split into social and financial advantages.

• A more sociable way of living – Because you’ll hopefully be amongst like-minded renters with similar lifestyles and ages, renting in a house share can open all sorts of social doors. Living with others has even been proven to have loads of positive impacts on mental health. After all, this will cause you to be sociable with others on a daily basis.
• Much cheaper than getting your own flat – When renting in a house share, you’re only paying for your room, as opposed to an entire house or flat. Unsurprisingly, this makes it a much more affordable option, particularly when living in an expensive area of the UK, such as London. Websites such as SpareRoom can be used to find rooms in London house shares for as little as £500-£600 a month (whereas a similarly located flat would cost well over £1000).
• Additional bills are often included – Even better, bills – such as gas, electric, water and broadband – are often included when renting in a house share from an agency or private landlord. Additional costs like council tax will also be taken care of for you. When this isn’t the case, living with others still means that overheads such as these can be split between more people. Services such as Resooma Bills will even do this job for you.

10 House Sharing Tips When Renting – How to Have the Best Time in Rented Accommodation

1. Socialise With Your Housemates

In order to get the most out of living in shared accommodation, one of our top house sharing tips is to try and get along with the people you live with. Moving into a house full of total strangers can be pretty daunting, so we’d recommend figuring out your common interests over a pint or two. After all, if house sharing problems inevitably arise, they’ll be much easier to resolve when the people involved actually know each other.

There’s no guarantee that you’ll become best friends with your housemates, but the simple act of doing some social activities together – whether this be going to the pub, having a house meal (inside or outside), or just shopping together – will make a huge difference to everyone’s enjoyment.

2. But Try Not to be too Loud

While being extroverted and bringing your own unique personality to a shared house is great, you need to realise that there’s a time and a place for it. There’s no issue with loud music, but be sure to check if anyone is trying to concentrate (and don’t play it too late either). Similarly, try to avoid large pre-drinks from carrying on too late, especially if some of your house members aren’t particularly into the UK’s drinking culture.

3. Don’t Shirk the Housework

To keep on your fellow housemates’ good sides, be prepared to do some house chores when they crop up. Much like if you were living alone, dishes will need washing (or taking in and out of the dishwasher), bins will need emptying, floors will need hoovering and so on.

There’s a couple of simple house sharing tips which can make this process a whole lot easier. For one, try not to let housework get on top of you. Rather than continually putting off cleaning the dishes until a large pile is left, just clean as you go. Secondly, a cleaning rota can help ensure that everyone is doing their bit. This doesn’t have to be too formal – some pieces of paper attached to the fridge should suffice.

4. When Rent’s Due, Pay Straight Away

It’s not uncommon to live with people who are frustratingly disorganised when it comes to paying bills. Don’t be this person, as it’ll only lead to annoyance from your landlord/letting agent and fellow housemates. Where house sharing tips are concerned, setting up a direct debit for the monthly payment of rent and other bills is one of the quickest and easiest to do.

5. Use an App for Shared Finance

Alternatively, using an app or website to automatically split your payments – such as Resooma Bills – can be a massive time saver with several benefits. Setting up bills can be time consuming and often sits on one person’s shoulders, so using a service to set them up and split them can help avoid any stress or conflict. Resooma Bills takes payment directly from each tenant, so there won’t be any missed transfers.

Resooma Bills bundles the likes of utilities, Wi-Fi, TV and council tax into one swift payment.

6. Devise a Bathroom Schedule

This might seem like a slightly over-the-top house sharing tip, but it actually makes total sense when you think about it. Whether you have to get up in the morning for lectures or work, there’s a good chance that your housemates will be operating around similar schedules. Simply knowing what time everybody needs to grab a shower can make a big difference and help avoid any arguments surrounding being unable to use the bathroom before setting off for the day.

Of course, having an en-suite will immediately solve this problem for yourself, but it isn’t a luxury that everyone is able to benefit from.

7. Report any Maintenance Issues

When living in rented accommodation, your landlord or letting agent will be expected to take on certain responsibilities, including dealing with urgent maintenance work. This could include broken appliances (such as washing machines), electricity issues or leaks. A happy household is one where everything is running smoothly, so be sure to report issues as they arise.

8. Take Part in Group Cooking

If nothing else, then cooking as a group – whether this be most evenings or once every couple of weeks – can be a fun bonding experience, especially when trying out a dish for the first time. Group cooking can also help maintain the often delicate balance of peoples eating schedules. If more people are cooking together, then it’s less likely that there’ll be cooking clashes from a hob not being available.

An additional bonus of group cooking is the money you and your housemates will save. Rather than turning the hobs on several times over the course of an evening, having them on just once whilst multiple meals are cooked will naturally reduce your energy bill and save money.

9. Create a Shared Environment

While there’s nothing wrong with a rambo-esque ‘every-person-for-themselves’ attitude, one of our house sharing tips when renting is to share as much as possible with your housemates. Not only will this bring you all closer together, but it should prove to be something of a money-saver as well. Rather than hoarding toilet paper in your rooms, take turns in buying it. When nipping out to the shops to get milk, see if anybody else needs some. Having a Whatsapp group chat will be really helpful with this kind of communication. These might seem like tiny things to consider, but can actually go a long way in creating house harmony.

10. Be Open-Minded and Mindful

To conclude, living in a rented house share can end up being an experience which many consider as some of their best years. Our biggest house sharing tip of all is to be as open-minded and willing to try new experiences. Living with others will not only expand your circle of friends, but will even allow you to meet people from different cultures and backgrounds. By visiting new places and trying new things, you’ll find yourself having a brilliantly enriching house sharing experience.

Already sorted your house but need to set up bills? We can help with this too – we set up and split utilities for you. Get a free quote for your utilities here