Splitting bills with Lodger/housemate, can I have some advice?

delmonta

MeteredOut said:

For energy, I'd say your current arrangement is fair, but should be adjusted for the standing charge (around 40-60p for elec, 30p for gas, depending on region). ie. you should share the cost of the SC even if you're not there.

Do you have a smart meter or submit monthly readings? It should be quite easy (with either) to getting into the habit of reviewing usage once a month and settling things.

Looking at it from his perspective (which I think is always a good way to approach these things), it can't be easy for him not knowing what his monthly costs will be, since it depends on your travels, which could be short notice?

Thanks yeah I stupidly didn't even know about the standing charge, so I would definitely take that in to account. Also I wonder if the fridge uses much energy, that's the only thing that's on all the time. 

I have a smart meter, and I get the bills every month and tell him what it is and we split it 50/50 unless I've been away

I don't go away short notice, its normally a few months in advance he'll know, but sometimes just a month. 

But my thinking was also if he's just paying for what he uses then he shouldn't be paying much more. Of course it costs more to heat a house alone though, but when he has been away, I will turn off the TRVS apart from in the rooms I use, which isn't too much hassle

delmonta

Brie said:

Maybe you could agree an average number of days you are away per year and pro rate the bills according to that?  So if your away for 1/4 of the year (based on the last 12 months) you would half of all the standing charges (because that gets billed no matter what) and then 3/7ths of the other use while he pays 4/7.  

Thanks yeah that's not a bad idea although to be fair it's pretty random, and also makes a huge difference whether it's winter or summer. In summer neither of us really care as bills are pretty minimal, but in winter its become quite expensive

theoretica

He has a point that it is out of his control when you decide he should pay for all the energy bills and when you split them.  Maybe you would both be happier if the bills were split 50/50 but you increased the base rent a bit.

delmonta

born_again said:

Do they pay rent & towards other bills?

They pay rent (probably about £50/100 under the going rate from what the estate agents said). We split all bills 50/50 - Council tax, internet, water, and then the gas and electricity 

debitcardmayhem

born_again said:

Do they pay rent & towards other bills?

Perhaps read the first post👀

delmonta

theoretica said:

He has a point that it is out of his control when you decide he should pay for all the energy bills and when you split them.  Maybe you would both be happier if the bills were split 50/50 but you increased the base rent a bit.

Yeah I had been considering this recently, it might be simpler

Gerry1

Split everything 50/50 and be done with it.  As it's a terrace the bills are likely to be quite low anyway so halving that seems pretty good.

Think of the apparent extra cost as a low cost fee for someone looking after the place when you're away: far fewer worries about break-ins, squatters, burst pipes, tiles blown off, items left in the porch etc.

If something does go wrong (e.g. CH pump fails, electricity trips out because of a lightning strike in the area or a solar flare) it's much harder to fix remotely, assuming you can even diagnose the problem.

You'd probably also have to pay significantly more for your home insurance if you are often away for long periods.

zxzxzx

Pros & cons.

When you are away he renders the place occupied therefore more secure that should have value to you?

He has the place to himself, that should have value to him?

He is there all of the time so should pay more for utilities, and has agreed to - the ball is in his court … ask him what he thinks is fair? 

If he has a budgetary issue agree he pays 5/10/20% more per month than you - calculated on your expected absence? It can’t be big money can it?
You say his rent is fair, have a look at what he would pay to rent elsewhere locally show him and nicely negotiate a fair % between you.

Hope you come to an amicable agreement.

delmonta

Thanks for all the advice everyone, we have taken it in to account and will agree on something in the middle

ArbitraryRandom

If it were me, I'd say you should pay a base rate for heating to the level that you'd keep the house at if you were away (most insurance requires a house to be kept at around 10-12 degrees to prevent frost damage) - so with standing charge, I'd expect to pay somewhere between 25-33% of the bill 

That's also based on the fact that yes he's there alone, but part of sharing a house is sharing the living costs - and if he were living alone he'd likely be in a smaller property that is cheaper to heat... and have full use of the property. Because even with the TRVs off and doors closed, your rooms will be leaching some of the heat from the rest of the house.