Shared house, what's it like.

K.C. Leblanc

K.C. Leblanc

K.C. Leblanc

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I currently live on my own and have always done so or co habited.

I'm now suddenly coming round the idea that maybe moving into a house share is a good idea. The extra money would help a lot, although I have enough to get by I don't for instance take foreign holidays and I can't remember the last time I ate out (unless someone else was paying).

I also find it can be a bit lonely, on Sunday evenings I almost always end up going to the pub. Simply because it's not unlikely that I won't have spoken to anyone all day long.

So people, what are your experiences of house shares?

EDIT: And can a kind passing mod please correctly my grammatical muppetry in the thread title.
 
Can't reccomend it.


It does depend entirely on the person(s) your sharing with tho. If its other easy going, considerate types you can have a blast and its easier for everyone... but invariably you get some loser who thinks its ok to have friends around and party til 4am on a sunday night when everyone else has to be up at 6am for work, doesn't tidy up after themselves or skips out after a few months and you find your being chased for £100s in bills they haven't paid, etc.
 
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I've lived with a variety of people in flatshares/uni halls etc and by and large have found it to be quite enjoyable. It's possible to get terrible flatmates I'm sure but provided you are prepared to accept that some people will have foibles different to your own then it should be fine.
 
I live in uni halls and yeah it all depends who you're living with. If you get some ****s then it is terrible, and if you fall out it's rather awkward. If you get nice people and people you get on with then it's pretty awesome.
 
I've lived with flatmates since I was about 18, I'm now 26. Quite a few of the moves have been in with mates who I've known before so it hasn't be a complete surprise what they'd be like but equally I've gone into completely new places a few times and still had a good laugh. I suppose it depends what sort of person you are, I'm fairly easy going generally so don't find it too much hassle usually but some people are a lot more particular about what happens in the flat.
 
semi-pro waster said:
I've lived with flatmates since I was about 18, I'm now 26. Quite a few of the moves have been in with mates who I've known before so it hasn't be a complete surprise what they'd be like but equally I've gone into completely new places a few times and still had a good laugh. I suppose it depends what sort of person you are, I'm fairly easy going generally so don't find it too much hassle usually but some people are a lot more particular about what happens in the flat.
Click to expand...

Same, only I am 24 :)
 
It does depend on who you live with. I house shared for 3 years with different people while I was at uni and each year had different pros and cons. Personally I would never do it again with 'strangers'(i.e not girlfriend or best mate) since I couldn't stand the fact that nothing was really mine outside my room, things weren't cleaned regularly unless I did it, and my food usually went missing. It may be different living with older people but my experience at uni tells me never to do it again.
 
I did it at uni. I've done it with friends, and I've lived alone. I love living alone for the ability to do what you want without worrying about the people/person you're living with (i.e. making too much noise, doing what you want, and general consideration for someone else living with you). That being said, having the company of someone else is also rather enjoyable - you will possibly have the occaisional tête à tête or a differing opinion or way of doing things, to a certain extent. However I've also had experiences where there's never been any issues or irritations. It's a bit of give and take. :)

Living with friends is the best thing as you can do as you both know one another. Sometimes taking a gamble with someone you don't know can also work.
 
I have never done it but have known friends that hated it. One particular mate of mine moved into his own flat and decorated it all, furnished it etc and lived on his own for a while. He then got a flatmate in for 6 months who NEVER cleaned, was always getting takeaways and leaving the boxes around.. and wouldn't set foot in the living room because he felt awkward that it was all my mate's stuff, like he was intruding. Worst of all he used to invite random fat birds over on a regular basis.

Rotten luck but you might get a better flatmate :p
 
Don't do it.....you'll regret it.

I hated it....you always end up with someone who doesn't pull their weight when it comes to clearing up after themselves.....once shared a house with 4 others and one was a dirty git to say the least......he wouldn't clean the bath after using it, which was around once a month so you can imagine the scum line left behind, and he never cleaned the basin after shaving so there was loads of beard infested scum in there too.........washing up....hell no....he wouldn't go near the sink other than to lob his dirty dishes etc into it...
When you got to the landing outside his room the stench of b o was awful......made taking ladies back there after a night out slightly embarrassing as they grimaced when walking past his door.
All in all it was a hateful experience that I wouldn't rush to repeat again.
 
The idea is full of fail. I lasted 2 weeks in a shared house with work mates. One guy was weird but he was cool to live with, he just let me get on with life. The other guy was a stalker, wake up at same time, eat brekkie together, travel to work together, work together, lunch together, travel home together, cook tea together, watch TV together.

I couldn't take it...
 
Same, I could never share after being on my own! I can clean up my mess, which isn't a lot, I always know when I get home I can lie back on teh couch and watch whatever I want, east whatever I want when I want :)

I don't have to tip toe around when someones upset or they have friends around

It's more expensive but it's also so stress free.
 
Why is it full of fail? If you're not a **** and the person/people you're living with isn't a/aren't ****(s) then there's no reason why you can't have a laugh and have a decent time living with one another. It's cheaper and convenient for so many reasons but also fun! We all wish we lived alone for a bit from time to time, but you have your bedroom if you want to escape. There are more positives than negatives for doing it IMO.
 
Its awesome, aslong as the people your sharing with are mates. I'd hate living on my own, I get fed up living with only 2 other guys this year, last year I lived with 13 people!
 
Wow, miserable lot:D

Sharing is awesome. Especially if you can do things together like cooking/food shopping. I'm still at uni and have shared from the start, I've always been good friends with the housemates I'm going to be moving in with so disputes haven't been an issue.

You'll make lots of new friends too.
 
I'd be considering getting a lodger before I got a houseshare.
Obviously you can't if you're living in a tiny little rented flat but if you've got space and your landlord allows it or you've got a mortgage i'd say a lodger is the way forward.

Houseshares are just luck of the draw, I know people who love it, others have gotten into major crap with people bailing, or just not getting on with the others.
With a lodger you can decide who you wish to live with and also free up some funds.
 
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