Whether you’re living in shared student accommodation or you’ve opted for a house share to help with the increased cost of living, there can be many benefits to living in a house share and house sharing is on the rise in the UK, particularly amongst older age groups.
However, there are drawbacks to living this way too, such as lack of privacy and control over your environment. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the ways you can make house sharing easier to help combat some of the downsides of living with others.
Communicate
Communication is an important life skill no matter your living situation but good communication skills are vital in a house share. Not only will effective communication help to strengthen the bond between you and your housemates but it can also help you to avoid conflict too.
When communicating with your housemates, be mindful of different communication styles and try to keep your language – including your body language – open and positive wherever possible. Rather than using statements like, “You always…” or “You never…” try to reframe any frustrations as “I feel…” or “I’ve noticed…” to avoid conversations becoming combative.
Financial Transparency
Whilst you may all pay rent separately, you may want to pool together for shared costs such as utility bills, food shopping, and home essentials. This can make it easier for you to manage your individual budgets each month and will ensure that you’re not under or overstocked on store cupboard essentials or cleaning items.
It can also help you get a better deal too, for example, you could consider multi car insurance policies for your vehicles and split the costs of other outgoings, such as broadband and streaming services.
Respect
Not only is showing your housemates respect common decency, but it also increases the likelihood of them showing you respect in turn. As a general rule, you shouldn’t do anything you wouldn’t want done to you! For example, don’t touch or move their things without permission and keep the volume down late at night and early in the morning.
House sharing can be particularly difficult if you have different schedules, such as living with shift workers or being a night owl in a house full of early risers but having an agreement or a set of expectations in place at the start of your house share can be helpful to manage people’s expectations and ensure that everyone is working from the same page.
Make Rotas
Cleaning can be one of the most contentious issues when it comes to sharing a house with other people but it’s only fair that everyone living in your home can relax and enjoy it without being surrounded by other people’s mess.
If you find that some people in the house aren’t pulling the weight or jobs aren’t getting done, consider making a cleaning rota for the house to clarify who should be doing what and when and how often.
People can have very different ideas about what constitutes clean or tidy but you should be able to agree on some basic principles, such as agreeing to wipe down kitchen sides and wash the dishes after cooking, emptying bins regularly, and taking turns to clean shared areas such as kitchens and bathrooms.