How to split rent in new flat (couple + singleton)?

I think your friend is getting a bargain to be honest, as you and your gf are paying £400 more to have the same facilities as him ie. one bedroom and shared use of the communal areas. What happens if you and your gf split up (not wishing this upon you) and you can't leave because of your lease, then you are committing to paying £900 as opposed to his £503?

I suggest that you split the rent into two component parts - bedroom and communal areas. Divide the bedroom cost by two and divide the communal area cost by three. My simple calculation for a simple 50/50 split for bedroom and communal area shows:

....................................You/Gf.......Single Guy
bedroom rent = £704/2....176...........352
communal area = £704/3....234.67.......234.67
Total..............................410.67.......586.67

Of course this means that you and your gf are paying just over 820 compare to 587.
 
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I personally don't agree with this, the couple are giong to use the flat just as much, if not more, than the tenant on their own, so why should the single person have to pay more?

He's not paying more, he's paying less than the couple :confused:
 
What are they going to do with that extra tiny square footage per person? Build a fort or something?

Seriously... The dimensions you are talking about are a non issue. The room is for sleeping and keeping your mate up in the night.
 
The fact that the couple are only using 1 bedroom is besides the point really, they are still going to use the rest of the flat.

It's not besides the point. Any landlord will price a property based on how many bedrooms there are, therefore people's contributions should reflect this.
 
bedroom space is trivial compared to living room, kitchen and bathroom - thats where the thrid person has an impact, and is why they should share it all equally.
 
The single dude is getting to live and have his own bedroom in a swish 2 bedroom flat that otherwise he would not be able to afford.
 
bedroom space is trivial compared to living room, kitchen and bathroom - thats where the thrid person has an impact, and is why they should share it all equally.

I you are working 9-5 all the time, where is the vast majority of your time spent? That's right, in the bedroom.
 
The single dude is getting to live and have his own bedroom in a swish 2 bedroom flat that otherwise he would not be able to afford.

That's the other point. If he was going to get a 1 bed flat, he'd be paying a hell of a lot more as he would if he was in a 3 bed house. This configuration works out the cheapest for everyone concerned - and specifically the cheapest for the single guy.
 
At the end of the day whether you agree or not its a small rent bump to yourselves to keep the peace incase he has a problem with it.

I say small because the rent is huge to begin with!
 
no, actually. All of my conscious time is spent in communal areas (well, i live with my wife, but used to live ina communal house) and we were only in our rooms from 11-7, which whilst its the larger time portion of the day ISNT the larger time portion of time you spend enjoyong your living space.

its obviously a contentious issue, speak to your mate about it.
 
Personally just split it in 2 and he should pay half. It it wasnt a couple at the start he would expect to pay 50% of the rent. If you then moved your gf in after 3 months would he expect his rent to go down?

Your half should be split between you and your GF so personally I feel it should be a 25/25/50 split.

Its a 2 bed flat and he has half the house to use and pay for.
 
I can only say this from my point of view of previous living arrangements but, to me, I suppose it depends on the timing if I'm honest...

When I lived in Edinburgh in a two bedroom flat with a flatmate we both paid equal amounts, £250 each a month to be exact.

If he had his girlfriend move in with him then I'd probably be happy with my rent coming down but not going as far as a equal 3 way split. Something like mine £180 and theirs £160 each.

However, if I was moving into a flat that was costing £1408 per month (which in my opinion is ******* crazy :)) then I'd prob want a 3 way split. Personally I'd only be moving into a flat of that cost that much if there was at least 3 or 4 of us and by virtue of the fact you're looking at it together then I'd just assume you'd have equal share.

That's just my flawed logic though :)

I suppose that's just the cost of living Bradford...
 
Your mates cost of living should be the same whether there is 1 person in the other room or 2 or even a whole family. Why should anyone subsidise your standard of living just because they want to have someone living with them? What if the GF actually has another house but just stays there 6 days a week? Should your rent drop?

Gas, Elec, Water, CT etc should be shared between all occupants but rent is a different thing imo.

Penalising the couple for no reason other than wanting to live together?
 
Just because you and your girlfriend are sharing a bedroom doesn't mean he should pay more than 1/3! How unfair, I wouldn't take that if I was the other person.

You'd expect him to pay a third of the utilities why not rent? If this was a situation where you couldn't afford a three bedroom placed and you were forced to share with the missus then maybe the rent swing is fair. But as it sounds this isn't the case.
 
Your mates cost of living should be the same whether there is 1 person in the other room or 2 or even a whole family. Why should anyone subsidise your standard of living just because they want to have someone living with them? What if the GF actually has another house but just stays there 6 days a week? Should your rent drop?

Penalising the couple for no reason other than wanting to live together?

The standard of living won't be subsidised, the boyfriend will see his rent drop too so he is better off.

If the girlfriend only stays over one night a week then she is not really living there so I wouldn't expect her to pay anything in that instance.
 
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