Share houses
rent; share; house; living; home; room; pay; bill; expenses; utilities; move;
conflict; house; flat; mate;
Contents
Moving out of home can be a very big step. There are so many things you need to think about and so many expenses involved. A good way to make this transition easier is to move into a share house. The bills are shared and you get the opportunity to make new friends. So where do you start?
Plan ahead
Finding a share house can become a real hassle. The problems usually happen when you don't plan ahead and don't have a clear idea of what you are doing.
Location
Think about all the places you usually have to get to in a week.
- Where is your school, Uni or work?
- Where do your family and friends live?
- Where do you like to hang out or where are the usual places you go for entertainment?
- What sort of transport can you access?
- Do you have a motor vehicle of your own?
- Do you rely on public transport or foot power?
Get a map and take note of the suburbs you could possibly live in – write them down.
Look at the maps on 'whereis' (in Australia). Take note of train stations and important land marks.
Finances
Now that you are thinking about your study or work, you can also plan your finances.
- Write down the amount of money you would normally spend in a week on bills, transport, food and entertainment.
- How much income do you get? How much do you have left over?
- Are there ways for you to reduce the amount you spend, or can you get more income?
You can now work out how much you can spend on rent.
Think about any new expenses if you have never paid for food, bills or transport. How will this affect the amount of money you can spend on rent?
We have some good topics that will help you plan your finances better, check out the topics Money, Banking and Mobile phones.
You should now have a list of suburbs and the amount you can pay on rent.
Finding a place
- In general, the more people you share with, the cheaper the accommodation.
- It can be good to move out with friends, but this means starting from scratch and can be a hard way to begin. If you can find a room in an existing share house there will already be things there like a fridge, TV and furniture.
- Check at universities, TAFE or libraries – you don't have to be a student to check the notice boards. Students often live in share house accommodation and there are often spaces opening up.
- If you are a student, ask at the student union about share house services.
- There are sites online to search
- Flatmates (Australia)
- Flinders University (South Australia) has an online student housing database - Flinders Housing.
- In South Australia there is a free service that can help young people find appropriate share accommodation – Get-a-place is run by the Service to Youth Council.
- Check your local paper. There will be a share house section.
Having a look
When you find a place you think would be appropriate for your location and money, make the call and organise a time to meet the people/person at the property. It is a good idea to have someone come with you for this first meeting. You will feel safer and your support person may notice things you do not. The people/person already in the house will be checking you out, but you should check them out too.
Here are some things to ask:
- How long has each person lived there? This may give you an idea of how high the turnover has been in the house. If lots of people have lived there for short periods, you should be wary. It could mean there are problems.
- Why is there a spare room? If someone has just moved out, ask why and check if they took anything vital to living in the house with them - eg. the fridge or washing machine.
- How long are you sharing for? Is it a fixed term (eg. 6 months)? Is it ongoing?
- What does each person do?
- How up-to-date are they with the rent and bills?
- Who takes care of the bills?
- What is the landlord like?
- What are the neighbours like?
- Are you expected to contribute any appliances or furniture to the house?
- Will your name be on the lease? If you are on the lease and there are problems when you leave the house, you might have to pay the costs, or you might not be able to use this place as a reference when you move.
- Does the landlord know that you will be staying there?
- Do you need to contribute a share of the bond? If you do, and you live in South Australia, you may be able to get rental bond assistance (bond guarantee) from Housing South Australia.A bond guarantee is like an IOU put up by Housing SA in your name. It means you don't have to get the money together yourself. When you leave the house, if there is any damage that needs to be repaired, it will become a debt you have to pay back to Housing SA. You might also be eligible for a one-off payment to help with rent in advance.
- Do they have many parties? You may like to hear yes or no to that one!
If possible, contact the landlord and see how much he or she is willing to tell you about the rental history of the place. Be careful if it seems the existing tenants cannot keep up with the rent.
Moving in
Once you are in a share house you will have responsibilities. It is important to get these clear from the start. Remember, you want to make a good impression and keep the house running smoothly. You also need to make sure everyone else is doing his or her share.
- When do the bills come in? Mark this on a calendar and put some money away each week so you are not left short.
- Spread the responsibility of the bills. Each person should have a bill that they collect the money for and pay. Some bills will have late fees, or even worse – the dreaded reconnection fee. Make it known that any fines and mistakes become the problem of the individual who slipped up. You might like to set up regular payment from your bank, but don't get caught out – some banks charge you if there is not enough in your account to cover it. Paying via online banking might be a better option, read Banking for more on this.
- Does everyone pay the same for bills? There might be some bills that need to be split differently. Let's say you have wireless internet and one person uses up the download quota each month. Should they pay a larger share?
- Spread the house chores. There is nothing worse than coming home after a hard day to a house that looks like a garage sale. If everyone has a job or two around the house that they do each week, it should be easy to keep on top of the housework. If people don't want to do the house work, could they pay more in rent to make it fair?
- Work out if it is best to take turns buying things like bread and milk, or if it would be better to have separate cupboards and shelves in the fridge. Many a fight has started over who ate the last Tim-Tam. Are there special diets, eg vegetarian?
- If you need to buy furniture or appliances when moving in, it's a good idea to have a look in op-shops and garage sales. If you get an old couch, you can always put a nice throw-rug or sheet over it. Consider whether or not you need a washing machine. You may be able to get away with going to the laundromat once a week. You can also pick up an old twin-tub cheaply – it may not be the best appliance, but it will get the job done. Some email groups and online sites are used by people wanting to give things away, Freecycle is one.
- Look after any important documents. Buy a folder and keep things like bill receipts and the lease in it. Put it in a safe place.
- If you need to contact the landlord or owner, make a note of the date, time and the issue. If things go wrong, it's good to have proof of your efforts to contact them.
- How often can a friend or partner stay over?
- Alcohol and other drugs can quickly become an issue. Talk about this and let your housemates know what is acceptable or comfortable for you.
- Smoking – inside or outside?
Consider a trial period to see how you live together.
Conflict
- It is just a fact of life – arguments happen in share houses. They can be over the smallest things when people are not seeing eye-to-eye.
- It may be a good idea to have a weekly house meeting. This way any issues will be dealt with when they are still seen as small.
- Communicating the things you are not happy with will avoid any confusion and tension.
- For some tips on keeping everything sweet, see our topic Conflict and negotiation.
Resources
South Australia
Australia
The information on this site should not be used as an alternative to professional care. If you have a particular problem, see a doctor, or ring the Youth Healthline on 1300 13 17 19 (local call cost from anywhere in South Australia).