Housemate advice

Jasoncmor

Jasoncmor

Jasoncmor

Associate
Joined
13 Feb 2010
Posts
612
Location
Bournemouth
Hi all

I hope this is in the right section.

I could do with some advice if anyone is able to help?

I currently live in a shared house, with my girlfriend and with 2 other people who she met at uni.

We have a problem with the guy housemate with smoking in the house.

He smokes in his bedroom upstairs which stinks the house out and he masks it with a load of deodorant. I've spoken to him about this and he doesn't seem to care. The kitchen extension roof is littered with cigarette butts which I have told him he must clean up before he moves out, which he assures me he will but I don't hold my breath.

Now he has on occasion smoked weed in his bedroom which has stunk out the whole house, us 3 do not smoke at all so it's really unpleasant.
I have spoken to him about smoking weed in his room and he apologised and said he didn't realise he was making the house stink of it and he would now go outside in future. Now he didn't do it for a few weeks and now he seems to be doing it again, and it's been mentioned a few times via a group chat for the house mates by one of the other housemates but it's just ignored.

To give you an image to the type of person he is. He doesn't pay his bills on time, he doesn't leave his room and orders take away every day or 2 and doesn't ever cook, uses a few of our items like squash and a few other bits and he hasn't washes his clothes or bedding in the 8 months we have been living there.

Now I don't want to talk to the land lord just yet as I'd rather not jeopodise the tenancy afreement but I'm not entirely sure what to do, I've spoken to him about this and he just seems to ignore it so does anyone have any advice or experience that could possible help this situation?

Cheers, Jason
 
Just have to man up as they used to say and tell him that the 3 of you have decided to give him an ultimatum, smoke outside or we'll call the landlord. Try shock tactic first.
 
Another point, guy sounds depressed. If you have his parents number can you contact them and tell them how he lives. I bet he tells them on the phone that he's fine but I doubt they know how he really lives.
 
The only real problems I'm hearing are the smoking and the bills. All the other stuff is irrelevant really; if that's how he chooses to live his life then so be it.

Just have a more serious chat with all of you present. Be polite, but firm about the smoking and bills. Then if it happens again, contact the landlord. Can't really be fairer than that.
 
IronWarrior said:
Kick him out already.

He won't change and nor will be clean up or do anything else you asked him too.
Click to expand...
This.

To be honest though, find out if you're on a separate or joint contract. How friendly are you with your landlord? Will he freak out if you say you want to find a replacement person? Or will he be sensible and just let you get on with it.

I can't stand smoking. Tell the loser to stop or he's out. End of. I can't believe there's 3 of you that don't smoke and have been letting it continually happen.
 
As a temporary measure, could one of you buy a draught excluder and tell the smoker to line it up against his bedroom door?

Also, again temporary, you can buy these candles that cancel out the smoke smell after the smoker has left. One of my family used to smoke (confined to 1 room) and after he leaves, we would place the candle in there to clean up the smell.
 
Assuming you guys were there before him and you guys have the relationship with the landlord then kick him out, just tell him immediately after the next rent payment that he needs to find a new place within a month. At least then you're only potentially out of pocket for some household bills if he does a runner without paying them.

Granted, legally you can't just evict someone like that but in reality if the whole flat wants him gone then he can almost certainly be persuaded to leave of his own accord.
 
Smokers are very selfish and inconsiderate people, I can’t see you changing his disrespectful behaviour.

Sounds like you need to find a way to make him
leave. Is it against the agreement to smoke in the house?
 
When does the tenancy agreement end/get renewed? I guess if it is coming close to renewal then perhaps just hang in there and then go find another place with the other housemate.

Or, if you want to be sneaky, just tell him you three are doing that and actually just renew the tendency agreement without him, by the time he's found out that you're not moving (like a few days before the end) he'll have had to put down a deposit for a new place etc.. anyway. Of course make sure to get any of his unpaid bills deducted from his share of the deposit when he does move out. Obvs you'd want to then fill the room rather quickly once he does move out but that can't be too hard if you're in your 20s/recently finished uni. Just make sure not to live with a smoker again, especially if getting a stranger to move in, as it isn't worth the hassle.
 
Another thing re: bills, put different bills in different people's names and get them to set up direct debits. Like have one person cover gas, another electricity, another broadband and TV etc.. you then just transfer cash when a bill comes in or if they still owe you money for a past bill then you can bring it up when they ask and net it off...
 
You really need to check if smoking is allowed in the tenancy because if it isn't raise the fact with the landlord immediately because if you don't he could use the fact you haven't told him to want you all out, also the landlord really needs to know he's smoking weed in the house and you've already spoken to him about it but he's ignored you.
 
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