House/Flat Sharing

Spend_day

Spend_day

Spend_day

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Joined
27 Jul 2005
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1,152
Location
Norfolk
Hi Guys.

I still live with my parents, I have a good job, and im pretty sure it says this but im 19 (20 next month) anyway im starting to feel it time to fly the nest and im looking into house sharing. This is my first serous look into renting somewhere and im just looking for some advice. Any experiences good or bad and would people rate this better than a bedsit or “studio apartment”. I have no real problems with the idea of living by myself I enjoy my own company but I would prefer a houseshare in which u loose personal space but gain communal space. I like to think im fairly easy going and easy to get on with so what do people thing house sharing a good option or a total waste of time.
 
if there is no pressure on you to leave, i seriously suggest you think about shared-buying schemes (next year or so) instead of throwing money down the never ending black hole that is renting
You are essentially throwing money away by renting to be completely honest, and it will be doubly hard when you have your own bills to pay to get onto the property ladder in the future (you now need at least 90% the deposit nowdays, 100% mortgages are a thing of the past)
 
I wouldn't recommend sharing with randoms at all. Occasionally you will get lucky and live with people you like, but the majority of random housemates will turn out to be dirty/loud/inconsiderate etc.

My personal order of preference:

-share with friends/partner
-live alone
-share with randoms
 
Chronictank said:
if there is no pressure on you to leave, i seriously suggest you think about shared-buying schemes (next year or so) instead of throwing money down the never ending black hole that is renting
You are essentially throwing money away by renting to be completely honest
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Agreed. I'm moving back in with my parents at the end of the year because I'm sick of throwing money down the pan on rent, when I could be saving it towards buying my own place. It's not something I'm wildly looking forward too, but it's not going to be a massive hardship.

As for the living alone v. shared house bit - I'd advise sharing if you're dead set on moving out. I currently share a 2 bed flat with a mate, and I get pretty bored when it's just me in - and I considered myself to be pretty OK with my own company.
 
Chronictank said:
if there is no pressure on you to leave, i seriously suggest you think about shared-buying schemes (next year or so) instead of throwing money down the never ending black hole that is renting
You are essentially throwing money away by renting to be completely honest, and it will be doubly hard when you have your own bills to pay to get onto the property ladder in the future (you now need at least 90% the deposit nowdays, 100% mortgages are a thing of the past)
Click to expand...

didnt some people have a shared buying scheme with there bank and even after living in there house for 6-8 years ended up owning less of it that they did originally???

Matteh said:
As for the living alone v. shared house bit - I'd advise sharing if you're dead set on moving out. I currently share a 2 bed flat with a mate, and I get pretty bored when it's just me in - and I considered myself to be pretty OK with my own company.
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yeah im worried that if i cant have the social bit all the time id miss it
 
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I've been house-sharing with randoms since I moved to the UK (6 years ago) and have only once lived with crap housemates.

I'm actually still in contact with 2 old groups of housemates as proper mates now.

Just be very probing when viewing a room and get as much info as you can about everyone in the house.
 
It might be better for you to try and move in with friends first if you have any in the same sort of situation. However you should remember that it can wreck friendships either temporarily or permanantly if you don't get on, people can be very different to live with compared to seeing them a couple of times a week.
 
Rent your own house and then you can get some tenants (contract depending) in and choose who can stay :cool:

Although don't be like round here where women only want other women and all men aged 18-65 all want women :p :D
 
friends isn't really an option as the only ones i would live with either have already moved out, dont want to move out or are joining the army. i want to move out because im quite independant and i tired of spunging off my parents they've had to look after me and my sister (who mum pays the morgage for) for years and i feel its just time. naturally im not just going to jump into it tho i plan to be out before im 21 tho
 
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I'm in my first year at uni, so got thrown in with randoms in my flat. Most are decent while some drive me up the wall :mad:. After coming to uni I've realised that 80% of people are inconsiderate :D.

Its just stupid little things like people not washing their dishes and pans so there are none left for others, as well as being REALLY loud, I'm not looking forward to the nights before the exams since I finish my exams last :mad:. I'm going to have to tell them to shut up a few times :(.

Next year living in a house with mates, all of us are decent, respect each other and will have a good laugh. So yeah, if you can, see if youve got any mates who want to house share if you really want to.

To be honest though, once I finish uni, I'm moving back home for a good 4-5 ish years so I can save up for a decent house, decent car etc. Money will be tight, and this is your problem. You will be paying for things you didn't need to living at home. Your choice though :)
 
Chronictank said:
instead of throwing money down the never ending black hole that is renting

You are essentially throwing money away by renting to be completely honest,
Click to expand...

You've basically man two completely false points there.
ugh.gif


Renting is neither of those things, but it seems to be a popular myth.
 
i went through uni, lived with randoms in first year then uni mates 3years after that. was a great laugh, few arguments hear and there but you get through it. certainly better then living at home and you become much more selfaware about things, its a good part of growing up and youll have a laugh

ive lived on my own now for about 6months and its great i get to do what i want, but at the added expense i have to pay for things on my own rather then shared. our las is moving in soon as shes sold her house.
 
Spend_day said:
friends isn't really an option as the only ones i would live with either have already moved out, dont want to move out or are joining the army. i want to move out because im quite independant and i tired of spunging off my parents they've had to look after me and my sister (who mum pays the morgage for) for years and i feel its just time. naturally im not just going to jump into it tho i plan to be out before im 21 tho
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Fair play if that's your decision - but I would urge you to consider your options with regards to buying, part buy part rent housing association schemes etc. because at the end of the day owning a property is very preferable to renting one. Would you rather pay your own mortgage or someone else's? Look at how much you would be spending on rent, bills etc. and bang it into a decent savings account every month whilst living at home, and it will soon add up. If you are concerned about spongeing off your parents then perhaps look at how much money you give towards the bills at home every month and adjust that so you are contributing more?
 
I've had trouble with people I know and randoms alike.

Problems usually arise when you've got 4+ people living together. No-one takes responsibility for anything and usually there's a fight over the bathroom. Naturally, the more people sharing, the higher the chances of there being a bad apple amongst you.

My girlfriend once shared with two randoms. Both of them were really nice people and the rent was very cheap (£400 a month inc. bills, London zone 3!). However, one guy was Indian and he developed a back problem. His parents came over to look after him (against his will, it seems) and ended up staying for 3 months. They totally took over the house and my girlfriend got very ****** off with the situation. Being a random (even a very friendly random), it was harder for her to tell the person that the situation wasn't acceptable.

My best flatshare was when it was just me and a mate of mine. I fondly remember the networked games of Championship Manager we had. :)

I'd say definitely share with a friend. Beware of sharing with more than 2 other people.
 
I enjoy living with randoms. You make new friends. There's usually something going on. Contracts are only 6months. So if you hate it. It's not that long to stay.
 
daz said:
You've basically man two completely false points there.
ugh.gif


Renting is neither of those things, but it seems to be a popular myth.
Click to expand...

Renting can be right dependent on your situation, but outside of those situations (certainly when you have no need to be renting and could be putting money towards buying your own place) I fail to see how it isn't throwing money down the pan to an extent.

Sure, I've loved living out with a mate for the last 18 months, and will enjoy it right up until I leave, but ultimately, it doesn't fit in with my plans for the future, one of which is to own my own property..

I suppose if you aren't interested in that then yes, renting is a perfectly good solution.
 
I live with 6 other randoms and it's fine in terms of people not being inconsiderate etc. Probably the main reason is that we have 3 bathrooms (including one en-suite) and a cleaner. It's not the same as sharing at uni though because when you move into the place, generally everyone else has been they're a while, whereas at uni everyone is in the same situation. Takes a bit more effort depending on the people I guess.

Main problem for me is the internet connection :mad: I think someone is torrenting and causing it to get really slow, but the router has very limited controls and is in someone else's room, so I can't work out who without (shock horror) asking.
 
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