House problem, opinions?

varial

varial

varial

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8 Sep 2003
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569
Hey Hey

Not the kind of thread i normally read or post but really feel like i need an outside opinion!

5 bedroom house with 5 people and a converted room in the back of a garage which isnt really surposed to be rented out but its what i live in.

all 6 of us pay $82 a week for our rooms. we pay for bills seperate. Im the only one who didnt put any bond because of the type of room im in.

My girlfriend lives in one of these rooms and for the last couple of months we have been staying in the same room and over the last week decided to move into one room.

The dilema is... should we pay $164 a week for 1 room or $98 for the room like everyone else. (basicly putting their rent up $16)

now 3 house mates said thats fine. we can put the empty room up for rent and hopfully in a couple of weeks it will get filled and the rent will go back down to normal.

The other house mate said he wants us to keep paying $82 a week UNTILL the empty room is filled....

Dont forget we pay bills, internet, ect seperatly. I could also move out tomorrow as i didnt pay a bond and shouldnt really live here and if any thing i have been helping them out for the last couple of months. (befor i moved in it was $98)

I tryed to keep it short and simple for you guys, just a quick reply saying which one you think is right would be great as me and my girlfriend have just argued with this one house mate and its put her in tears and me shaking as i have never argued like it befor! (thought here would be a good plae ot vent too! hehe)
 
Keep the same rates. Make the GF pay for her own room that she can always go back to when you get in a fight. As soon as she starts getting a free ride it's all over with. ;)

As soon as she is able to let the room then she should share the cost with you for your room, and obviously all the utilites.
 
I agree with the last house mate, you should keep paying your $82 until your old room is filled. I don't see why everyone else should have to pay more because you and your girlfriend have made changed to your living arrangements. You may not have paid a bond, but it's not fair to say you have been helping them out. Yes, you have saved them some money, but they were helping you out by giving you a room to rent. It works both ways.

Personally I'd not rent out the other room, even if I was spending most of my time in my girlfriends room. Relationships have a funny habit of going horribly wrong, it that were to happen, you'd have no where to live.
 
loopylou said:
Simple, you keep paying until they fill the room. Why should they be out of pocket?
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Why should we pay $164 for one room? when the empty room is filled they suddenly dont mind us paying $82 for one room?

vonhelmet said:
Surely it depends on the terms of the rental contract... Are you renting per room or per person?
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#

We have been paying per room. Never seen rentle agreement. i shouldnt be in the garage room.

Shocked me with the replies so far tho... maybe i have been looking at this the wrong way. Bare in mind the one causing trouble does have a girlfriend round to stay a lot of the time? she doesnt controbute to any thing?
 
peter_hutson said:
I agree with the last house mate, you should keep paying your $82 until your old room is filled. I don't see why everyone else should have to pay more because you and your girlfriend have made changed to your living arrangements. You may not have paid a bond, but it's not fair to say you have been helping them out. Yes, you have saved them some money, but they were helping you out by giving you a room to rent. It works both ways.

Personally I'd not rent out the other room, even if I was spending most of my time in my girlfriends room. Relationships have a funny habit of going horribly wrong, it that were to happen, you'd have no where to live.
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i move back to the uk in 5 weeks and my girlfriend in 6 weeks. altho it seems petty to argue over such a short amount of time its actually going to decide on wether we can do some greater things with our lives (maybe this is clouding our judgement.) hmmm
 
varial said:
Why should we pay $164 for one room? when the empty room is filled they suddenly dont mind us paying $82 for one room?
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Because you have chosen to share a room with your girlfriend, after renting another room in the house, they should be out of pocket until the room is filled?

I see you point that you could just move out, and they would have to foot the difference, but because you are staying in the same house, for harmony sake pay the money for a few weeks.
 
varial said:
We have been paying per room. Never seen rentle agreement. i shouldnt be in the garage room.
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If you were paying per room, then it'd be OK. Alas, I suspect you're paying per person, otherwise you'd be able to cram 12 people in one room and I doubt the landlord wants that.

Also, check the contract for how long your girlfriend agreed to rent the room for, and what her obligations are if she moves out early.

Also, it's a bit odd that you shouldn't be sleeping in the converted garage, but the landlord is happy to turn a blind eye to that and just collect his $82.
 
vonhelmet said:
If you were paying per room, then it'd be OK. Alas, I suspect you're paying per person, otherwise you'd be able to cram 12 people in one room and I doubt the landlord wants that.

Also, check the contract for how long your girlfriend agreed to rent the room for, and what her obligations are if she moves out early.

Also, it's a bit odd that you shouldn't be sleeping in the converted garage, but the landlord is happy to turn a blind eye to that and just collect his $82.
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I think they have be paying a set amount for the house and spliting it per room (which is why the others rent will go up if he moves in with his girlfriend).
 
vonhelmet said:
If you were paying per room, then it'd be OK. Alas, I suspect you're paying per person, otherwise you'd be able to cram 12 people in one room and I doubt the landlord wants that.

Also, check the contract for how long your girlfriend agreed to rent the room for, and what her obligations are if she moves out early.

Also, it's a bit odd that you shouldn't be sleeping in the converted garage, but the landlord is happy to turn a blind eye to that and just collect his $82.
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Not the kind of house or place to cram lots of poeple into rooms, we can all afford it. befor my girlfriend moved in they payed $120, i moved in 2 months after my girlfriend.

Never met the landlord and he doesnt know about me.

If my girlfriend moves out tomorrow, she just has to find some one to move in,
and they give her the bond she payed....otherwise all she looses is her bond of $200.
 
Look at it this way. Suppose your other 4 housemates said "OK, we are all gonna share a room", and suddenly you end up having to pay $246/week for the room you and your gf share. Would you be happy with that arrangement?

My opinion is, if you move out of a room during the course of a contract then it is your responsibility to find a new tenant, or cough up the dough to pay for it.
 
varial said:
Never met the landlord and he doesnt know about me.
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What, so you're just living there?

Ah, I see. It's $490 p/m for 5 rooms, but as there's 6 of you (which there shouldn't be) it's $82 each instead of $98.

Firstly, if the landlord finds out you'll be in trouble for subletting, which I'll bet your contract doesn't permit you to do.

Secondly, you and your girlfriend should pay $164 between the two of you even if you are only using one room, although this is down to negotiation with your housemates as it's an arrangement with them really.
 
HangTime said:
Look at it this way. Suppose your other 4 housemates said "OK, we are all gonna share a room", and suddenly you end up having to pay $246/week for the room you and your gf share. Would you be happy with that arrangement.

My opinion is, if you move out of a room during the course of a contract then it is your responsibility to find a new tenant, or cough up the dough to pay for it.
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We said if they did that then they would have to at least gve us a couple weeks notice to fill their room as thats a MASSIVE change to the price ect ect... we could move into a hostel bedroom for cheaper ect ect....

We would nto ihave a problem with that. as long as they gave us enough notice... which is what we are doing...

Thier is no contract for us either... only 5 people should be staying in this house legally... i should not be here but its all been kep hush hush!
 
From a legal standpoint it is you who should be playing ball and not your housemates. The fact that you're even there is an extracontractual arrangement. you're not on the contract so you therefore don't have any sway in any potential argument about the rent etc.

I'm sorry mate but you're in the wrong and should find a satisfactory arrangement with your housemates. Find a new tenant then move in with your girlfriend. Until you can categorically say that 'on this date of this month someone will be moving in' you should pay.

More importantly it is you that could get utterly shafted by this whole arrangement. I'd try and get in on the contract or make it legally watertight as there is nothing stopping you from being evicted at the whim of the landlord. Then you would have a problem.

Good luck and just do the right thing.
 
Stop being a tight arse and risking your friendships over something so petty. Pay the difference until you fill the room. They are well within their rights to tell you that they don't want another person in the house and then you woul have to keep the two rooms. On top of that, I assume that you don't just live in your rooms so a per room split is more than generous if you ask me.
 
Your flatmates didn't decide that you should move into your girlfriends room, so why should they have to pay for it? Find another tennant and keep paying for your room until they move in.
 
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