Paying bills in a shared house

Willsnarf1983

What are peoples views on this?

I live in a house with three other people and the bills for a quarter came to £380, i have paid my 1/4 of this but i was thinking that really only 2 people live here full time and two live with tehir missus 5/7 to 6/7ths of the week. If you were one of these two people would you expect to pay less than the people living there full time or would you just say thats the terms of the house share?

Will

oscar52

Personally, i think they should pay their share (1/4), although there are not there, they do use the house and its facilities - i assume they wash/bathe when there, they have food etc in the cupboards/fridge etc.

If they only there one day in seven, thay may as well move in with the g/f or b/f release the rooms to get new people in, on the other hand i can see the advantage of just taking their money and having the house virtually to yourself

Hello

If that is what they agreed when they moved in then they should continue until they give up their claim on the house.

It's no different when I was renting a flat but stayed pretty much at my then BF's flat permanently - still had to pay the rent and bills! It galvanised me to move in with my then BF and now DH

Hello

bandraoi

They should pay their share, that's what they agreed to when they moved in.
The reduction in costs because they're not there will not be a major fraction of the bill. The fridge still has to be run, the house heated, the telephone connection paid etc.

Willsnarf1983

thanks for the comments, thats my saying, i think i would be happy to pay 30% maybe even 33% but no more becayse as you say things are always on, they don't turn their radiators of etc when they arn't here so things are fair.

i was just reading my agreement which i have a new one which i need to read throoughly before signing and it says

'To pay the tenants fair share of the cost (including VAT) of all gas electricity telephone bills, hiring charges, licence fees and other household outgoings in respect of services and the like enjoyed by the tenant alone or in common with others during teh tenancy'

Will

CAFCGirl

I guess by other household services that'd be things like sky tv etc.

I agree with everyone else, it costs the same for a lightbulb to be on if there are two people in the room or four..........
Have they mentionned they dont think they should pay?

My former flatmate tried this on with me, telling me she shouldn't have to pay for stuff used when she wasn't there (which was 90% of the time) till I pointed out if that was the case I would get someone else to move in on the days when she wasn't there, and they would be more than happy to share the bills..... so she either stayed (permanently) wherever it was she went or paid for bills.

So she paid up most of her share and then went..... lol
And then so did the other one......... but thats another story

bandraoi

Do they wash their clothes there? Do they use the tumble drier? (they're both very energy intensive)
Just trying to help you build a case.

It's also worth stating that you move into a house of a certain size expecting to share the bathroom/kitchen etc. with more people in exchange for a reduced living cost (ie splitting the bills four ways)
Just because they have decided not to avail of the facilities, doesn't mean you should have to pay their share.

Willsnarf1983

No no, no one has mentioned anything bout paying more cept i was talking to one of the housemates taht was away and he did mention that i was alwasy here and using the utilities so it just made me think.

ur right them not being here makes a minimal differance.


Will

Kevicho

Willsnarf1983 wrote:

No no, no one has mentioned anything bout paying more cept i was talking to one of the housemates taht was away and he did mention that i was alwasy here and using the utilities so it just made me think.

Maybe you need to get out more to save some electricity

Seriously though, everyone should pay there percentage whether there full time or not, and if they dont like it they can always move

TTMCMschine

If it was their own house, and they weren't there much - who would they expect to foot the bill? They cannot take out a tennacy agreement - scarper, and expect you to pay bills according to time spent in the house. If they chose not to be there, that is up to them, but i assume they have signed up to living there - therefore responsibility is down to them. This is unfair of them. If they aren't living there they should move out. If they class it as the place where they live - they help pay for the bills. I certainly would expect bills to be fairly shared out if i was that person who was rarely in.

mjh1977

Under most standard rental contracts, ultimately any individual tenant is 'jointly and separately' liable for anything. That means if all the others disappear you're liable for the whole lot regardless of any agreements you have made. A good reason to choose friends wisely. M