House Share - utility bills bank account

newtenant

Hi - so I'm moving into a new flat share with 3 other tenants and as the group leader I'm looking for a convenient way to manage & pay house bills (gas, electricity, TV, broadband, cleaning products, etc.).

I am looking to set up a new current account, which all the tenants pay a set amount into each month (no more than £300 per month between all of us), from which I can set up direct debits to pay bills, and occasionally buy cleaning products for the house use from.

Can anyone advise as to what the best current account would be for this?

My first thoughts are that I would need some kind of overdraft facility in case of an unexpectedly large bill payment (especially in the opening months, where we are gauging how much to pay in each month). But the account cannot have a minimum monthly deposit as I doubt we will reach this between the 4 of us (I expect total bills to be no more than £80 per person in a 4 bed house share). I will be managing the house account using internet banking so preferably the account will be with a bank who have a good internet banking system.

On a final note - I do not intend to add the other housemates as joint account holders (as we do not want to be financially linked), so please do not suggest current accounts based on their benefits as a joint account. The other housemates are all good friends, so they trust me to manage finances on their behalf and not do anything untoward.

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

Thank you!

Cycrow

as a bill paying account, santander and halifax would be the better ones to choose as you can earn cashback/bonus from the direct debits.

The monthly deposit for these shouldn't really be a problem. Just deposit it from your own money then transfer it straight back to your account.

otherwise, any standard current account will do the job

Aquamania

newtenant wrote: »

Hi - so I'm moving into a new flat share with 3 other tenants and as the group leader I'm looking for a convenient way to manage & pay house bills (gas, electricity, TV, broadband, cleaning products, etc.).

I am looking to set up a new current account, which all the tenants pay a set amount into each month (no more than £300 per month between all of us), from which I can set up direct debits to pay bills, and occasionally buy cleaning products for the house use from.

Can anyone advise as to what the best current account would be for this?

My first thoughts are that I would need some kind of overdraft facility in case of an unexpectedly large bill payment (especially in the opening months, where we are gauging how much to pay in each month). But the account cannot have a minimum monthly deposit as I doubt we will reach this between the 4 of us (I expect total bills to be no more than £80 per person in a 4 bed house share). I will be managing the house account using internet banking so preferably the account will be with a bank who have a good internet banking system.

On a final note - I do not intend to add the other housemates as joint account holders (as we do not want to be financially linked), so please do not suggest current accounts based on their benefits as a joint account. The other housemates are all good friends, so they trust me to manage finances on their behalf and not do anything untoward.

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

Thank you!

You're unlikley to get much of an overdraft on a brand new account (espicially from a bank that is not the one you currently use) without a minimum monthly deposit.

Even if you do get an overdraft (even an unauthorised one), any borrowing will be entirely your responsibility to pay back to the bank.

If any/all of you are short of money, you should individually organise an individual solution so the bills are paid.

You are right not to get a joint account for the reasons you mention.

Do you even need another account? Just get your other housemates to pay you their share on the agreement you then pay the bill.

Or, in the case the bill is not required to be paid by DD (e.g. to get a discount as is common for some utility bills) then just divy up the bill as it arrives and everyone pay.

I know when I was house sharing, we would for example use 5 separate cheques to pay the tv licence.

For day to day essentials (e.g. cleaning products, and in our case food as eating/cooking together is not only cheaper but also good social interaction) then we would each put a tenner in - someone goes and buys what is needed, and the remainder went in a yogurt pot for the next occassion.

newtenant

Thanks for both of your responses - it's helping me to form a bit of a picture about how I want to manage things.

I know in theory it is probably a better option not to open a new account just to manage bills - but in my experience from my current houseshare, chasing bill payments from each tenant can be a bit of a nightmare - which is why it would be useful to have a separate bank account so that the other tenants can pay directly into (by standing order) each month. For the reasons of being as transparent as possible with the other tenants, I am keen to keep this separate from my own current account, so that I can share statements etc. showing what we're spending on bills / cleaning products etc.

As we're looking to pay all of our household bills (utilities etc.) from this account, I think it makes sense to go with the Santander account as we can get cash back for each bill paid. I may just have to do what Cycrow suggested and pay my rent into this account before transferring to the landlord (so as to ensure the minimum monthly deposit is met).

Aquamania

newtenant wrote: »

Thanks for both of your responses - it's helping me to form a bit of a picture about how I want to manage things.

I know in theory it is probably a better option not to open a new account just to manage bills - but in my experience from my current houseshare, chasing bill payments from each tenant can be a bit of a nightmare - which is why it would be useful to have a separate bank account so that the other tenants can pay directly into (by standing order) each month. For the reasons of being as transparent as possible with the other tenants, I am keen to keep this separate from my own current account, so that I can share statements etc. showing what we're spending on bills / cleaning products etc.

As we're looking to pay all of our household bills (utilities etc.) from this account, I think it makes sense to go with the Santander account as we can get cash back for each bill paid. I may just have to do what Cycrow suggested and pay my rent into this account before transferring to the landlord (so as to ensure the minimum monthly deposit is met).

If it's your main account that your housemates (who you described as good friends) have not credited, you'll probably be more inclined to get the money off them than a secondary account that probably won't affect you so quickly.

If it's utility bills you need paying, they are typically charged a fixed amount per month (to get the best deals) - get your good friends to set up standing orders for their share payable to you.

newtenant

It's not due to lack of motivation that I am looking to set up a "house" account - I'm just trying to be realistic, as there are always times when someone forgets or a new bill needs to be set up (especially in a new house share).

It also makes life easier when tracking exactly what we spend on bills, and where everyone's money is going.

Aquamania

newtenant wrote: »

It's not due to lack of motivation that I am looking to set up a "house" account - I'm just trying to be realistic, as there are always times when someone forgets or a new bill needs to be set up (especially in a new house share).

It also makes life easier when tracking exactly what we spend on bills, and where everyone's money is going.

It sounds like you have already decided how you wish to manage your finances.

It wouldn't have worked for me and my housemates, hence why we never had such an additional account.

But everyone is different. If you think it's going to work best for you - go for it!"