Shared flat, bills, question

rsatd

rsatd

rsatd

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Being a novice with renting shared flat renting (rented before on my own but its not reasonable in London and I want to save money to get a mortgage). Wanted advice as to what is commonly done in London.

I am in a flat share of 3 people (total) where people pick bills and pay them, but would it make sense to create a joint account with other flat mates so that when bills come, we would just split the end bill/3 by transferring money into the shared account? Can this even be done with bank accounts? Is this reasonably common? I am new to the shared renting and London in general.

Might be relevant but not sure. The contract is with a private landlord and it seems that we pay for the entire flat individually, but the flat is in each of our names. Its a "free" contract in terms that if I find a suitable replacement I can leave any time. It seems that one of the flat mates is planning to move out in a few months too. We all work (not students) if that makes any difference?
 
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Depends on how well you know your flatmates.

I've known the lass I live with for four years, same day every month she pays half of everything into my account and that covers it. I wouldn't be so relaxed about it if I was living with strangers mind...
 
I had a joint account with my flatmate in the past. We put the same amount in each month (IIRC, around £400 - rent was £300pppm) and all bills came from that. We didn't really use it for anything apart from bills, rent and the odd flat purchase. At the end of the tenancy, we closed the account and went to the pub with the excess.

Worked very well for us, but none of my other friends have done something similar. I guess it'll only work if people can afford to put £x aside every month.

What I've noticed about many of my friends who live with folk is that they hardly ever do things as a unit. For example, they'll each cook their own meals, do their own shopping (bar essentials) and the like. Me and my flatmate above took it in turns to cook for each other, we shopped together and we were basically a little homosexual family without the sex.
 
When I was sharing we used to each take responsibility for paying a few of the bills, (one person council tax, one gas/electric/water, another phone and sky). Then at the end of each month/quarter/whenever we would sit down, total up what we'd each paid and settle the difference.
 
I've always done a rough calculation of the overall expected bills, up it by 10-15%, and each person pays an equal share of that total. After a year it would be reviewed to check the actual overall cost, adjust if needed, and share any excess back out.
 
Oh interesting, just a note, this is only for bills and shared things like loo roll, cleaning items that sort of stuff (not rent). Just wondering if this would work out easier then keeping a list of who bought what, paid what bill and how much that was...

Edit: Also its a new place for me, so I don't know anyone but one tenant been there for 4 years already. Both seem sensible.
 
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Nah, its a hassle

because the account has to be in someones name, that means someones always solely responsible for everything in the end

if everyone does one bill each and writes down everything bought for communal areas and every month or 2 you work out who owes what sounds more hassle but it ends up far easier.
 
rogan said:
Nah, its a hassle

because the account has to be in someones name, that means someones always solely responsible for everything in the end

if everyone does one bill each and writes down everything bought for communal areas and every month or 2 you work out who owes what sounds more hassle but it ends up far easier.
Click to expand...

You can set up accounts with multiple account holders.
 
Ahleckz said:
/snip
Click to expand...

This is the best way to do things. I however never had a joint account with any of my numerous flatmates but bills were calculated every month and someone reimbursed. Could occasionally be a pain, but amongst mates it's ok. A joint account is very good if you know your flatmate(s) well.

Shopping and cooking is way better shared, it's very social and you get to know people much better doing this. If you want to have a special treat, then buy it outside of the weekly shop, otherwise just have a standard weekly shop that you have on re-order.
 
I'm in a flat share of 5 "randoms" (friends now but didn't know each of them when they moved in) and we each have a bill. We pay the bill in full and then ask the other 4 for their share.

For example I have Sky, someone has council tax, water, electricity & gas etc. When someone moves out they pass that bill onto the name of their replacement.

We then have a kitty into which we each put £10 a month which buys household goods and the like. Any excess at Christmas is spent on bubbly.
 
I wouldn't have a joint account personally. It will create a link to the other people on your credit file which is probably not a good thing if they have a bad credit record.
 
Convince someone to set up the accounts with the water company etc. in their name, don't be the one that the bills fall on.
 
For the first student house I lived in, we each paid a fixed amount at the start of each term which we knew would cover all the bills for the term, into one person's unused account. The bills were then paid from that account, and any money left was then either given back to or kept for the next term.

In the second place, it was a flat and there were only two of us, so I just had a direct debit set up to my friend's account as all the bills were fixed rate, so the bills were automatically paid on both our parts.
 
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