How to split rent as a couple?

PureAppleJuice said:
E.g. if the rent is £2,600 PCM for a three bed, they say we all pay £650 each. I don't think that's particularly fair as we're then paying for half of the rent.
Click to expand...

But you are 50% of the occupiers :p

Seriously though I'd split it based on rooms,like others have said you can vary the share based on the size of the room but also on features such as if it has an en suite whereas other rooms don't.

Problem with shares though is that ultimately you need to compromise because it isn't just you living there.
 
Agreed, split on room size and features I.e. En suite etc.
The rest should be even though. As was mentioned earlier on, if they are kicking up a fuss now, imagine having issues further down the road!
 
PureAppleJuice said:
Oh I know, welcome to London prices.

For background, we were paying £2,100 for a really nice townhouse in Clerkenwell (central London in case you don't know). The landlord was a contact of mine and it was cheap.

I feel that the claws are out as they've now realised that such a standard of living can't be maintained for similar 'room by room' prices when faced with market rate rents, and essentially want us, the couple, to subsidise the budget. We're all collectively keen to remain in said location.
Click to expand...

They are insane if they think they're going to do better. That's Clapham pricing for somewhere actually nice.
 
TLDR

OP Lubed up his angus to get well and truly grilled for 2100 a month.

OP is now feeling the girth and complaining his angus cannot handle that girth.

But all seriousness I think it's fair you pay rent 3 ways... you're GF and you share the room, it's not like she has her own room...rent is based on a room basis. They are trying to pull one off on you tbh.

Not sure how you manage to live with a girl on top of you like that though, would drive me mental. I like my own space too much....me and my mate are renting a 4 bedroom house for a fraction of what you are paying.

doofer said:
Just let your housemates share your girlfriend. Simple.
Click to expand...

LMAO!!!
 
Last edited:
They're being quite tight, and it seems they think you're getting the same as they are. If you're sharing the room, then you get half the space (or there about) they get in terms of personal non-communal space. On a per person basis makes no sense except for their benefit.

It's just convenient for them that they can make that suggestion. If it was just you, still taking up the same amount of space, would they even dare suggest you pay pretty much half the rent?
 
It's like when twins buy a birthday present for someone and say it's from both of them. But when it is their birthday they expect a present each.
 
PureAppleJuice said:
Hello all,

One of those tedious 'I can't function at life threads' but thought it'd be useful to have outsider input.

I'm in the process of moving house. Currently my girlfriend and I share a room and there are two other housemates.

The rent in the current place is £2,100 PCM and is split on a room by room basis, so we've got a rather cushy deal, paying £350 a month each.

Anyway, we're now looking for a new property and the other two housemates are gung-ho on splitting the rent by the number of people in the property, despite their being only three rooms.

E.g. if the rent is £2,600 PCM for a three bed, they say we all pay £650 each. I don't think that's particularly fair as we're then paying for half of the rent.

My counter proposal (which I think is rather generous) is that we as a couple pay £600 each (i.e. £1,200 total) and they then the other two housemates pay £700 each, but they still think they're still being hard done by.

What are your thoughts? Utility bills would be split by the number of people sharing the house.

The fairest alternative would be, I feel, is to pay on a 'room basis' then divide the 'communal area' by the number of people in the property. But I don't think that'll have any dice.

I suppose what I'm trying to ascertain from this post is whether I'm being unreasonable in how I feel the rent should be split.
Click to expand...
is the contract for the room or is it for the whole house, are all your names on the same contract this is the first question that needs to be answered.
if all the names on the same contract then i'd pay 975 if bills are included id add and extra £75 =£1050, if its per room i'd pay 2600/3=866.
 
Last edited:
matdom said:
is the contract for the room or is it for the whole house, are all your names on the same contract this is the first question that needs to be answered.
if all the names on the same contract then i'd pay 975 if bills are included id add and extra £75 =£1050, if its per room i'd pay 2600/3=866.
Click to expand...

if they had separate contracts for each room the OP wouldn't have posted/wouldn't have the dilemma to begin with

it is clearly a tenancy agreement for the flat as a whole and he's trying to figure out how to split it... an amount in between per room and split 4 ways seems fair.
 
dowie said:
YANBU

You're absolutely correct IMO, the rent for a flat share represents exclusive occupation of a room and shared use of the rest of the dwelling. So in some flat shares the person with the biggest room will pay more in rent than the person with the smallest room.

I think your offer is reasonable... assuming all rooms are equal size I'd be tempted to do it in quite an arbitrary way - rent representing 50% room 50% rest of dwelling. So say a 2600 per month flat, you as a couple would pay 1,083.33 (650(communal areas) + 433.33(room)) (or 541.66 each) and the others 758.33 (325(communal area) + 433.33(room)).

your offer is more generous than that

you could look at the size of the rooms too though to be fair, I'd assume that as a couple you'd be wanting the largest room in which case splitting the amount for the rooms evenly isn't fair and you guys should pay a premium for that (split the room portion of the rent proportionally by size of the room perhaps)

overall you just want to find agreement, you don't have to be anal and start going into detailed calculations with them - the above was just an illustration that I'd agree with your thinking - you just need to point out that splitting the rent four ways isn't on as you guys are both paying for sharing a single bedroom but they get a bedroom each. Having said that your current arrangement of splitting three ways is also unfair on them - you definitely need a compromise in between the two.

If they don't see that rather obvious point then suggest a 4 bedroom house, rent split 4 ways but you two get the fourth bedroom as a study.
Click to expand...

This, there's still an extra person for all the communal areas. So it shouldn't be split equally.
 
I'd offer up something like this, pretty much as dowie said.... and your offer is actually better for them than this is.

communal areas = half house
bedrooms = half house

total price is 2600 so each half is 1300

3 bedrooms = 1300 so 433.33 per room - alternative approach is floor space percentage ratio

communal space / 4 people = 1300 so 325 each

2 of you so 650 + 433.33 total 1083.33 remaining 1517/2 for the other 2

bills obvious way would be split 4 ways although things like food and maybe even telephone etc could be separate.
 
Had a similar situation as above, just charged extra for using communal space and any bills are split across everyone. Counter offer of £600 sounds more than reasonable to me.
 
London really should be declared a separate country and the rest of England should erect proper borders. Should stop such stupid prices for shelter spreading and infecting the good bits of England. Should hopefully discourage even more Londoners from straying outside London too.

Scam said:
Only me that thinks £2,100 is quite the bargain for Clerkenwell then :p Rents around here have gone silly, £1,800 for two bed flats. And this is zone 3 for crying out loud!

Edit: As I suspected 2+ bed flats in Clerkenwell seem to be starting at £2,400ish.
Click to expand...
 
OpenToSuggestions said:
Jesus Christ £2100 per month on rent!
I overpay my mortgage by 20% (2 years into a 90% 25 year mortgage) on a 3 bed detached is £550!

Back on topic. It really is tricky to sort.
You could argue that room is one cost and communal areas are another. Does your girlfriend have a car? Just wondering if you share a driveway.

BRB, off to fit balloons to my house like off the film 'Up' and glide down to London!
Click to expand...


yeah but you live in stoke so you still make up the extra £1550 a month in alcohol trying to forget you live in stoke.

Swings and roundabouts really.
 
At Uni I had a similar arrangement (GF and I shared a room), we split all of the household bills equally. Rent also covers the use of communal areas (bathroom, lounge, kitchen) where there are two of you using the facilities.
 
As other's have said split the rent on a room basis and all other bills on an individual basis. If they disagree with this then ask the question "I assume you are going to have visitors and people stay over". Hopefully, it will get in their heads then they aren't getting such a bad deal. They could have someone stay over 5 nights a week and contribute no more.
 
You're willing to pay more then double what you pay today, then an additional £600 which your partner doesn't currently pay? - Wow.

Now I'm not saying you shouldn't make some arrangement with your housemates, as they are clearly stating she lives there. It seems that it's your partner losing out here though, as she won't have her own room.

Just in addition to that, is there no decent 1 / 2 beds for say £1500? That's pretty much what you're paying for a 3 bed but only using 1 room. Of course, sometimes communal areas with bigger houses are usually nicer :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom