Housemates and bills

SureYWouldntYa · 06-05-2015 4:57pm #1

Just moved into a house with 2 others. One of them won't be in the house much if at all during the summer and won't be here full time until September, student life.

She says she won't be contributing to any of the bills until then as she doesn't live here, I'm just wondering do people think this is okay ? I'm okay with her not paying as much for electricity as she won't be the one using it but stuff like the broadband that will have to be paid for no matter who's here or not doesn't feel right

What's the right way to do things ?

Diarmuid · 06-05-2015 5:02pm

Just like you suggested, the costs that vary with use, only paid for by the people occupying the house. The fixed costs paid by all.

Penny Tration · 06-05-2015 5:04pm

Errr... she pays her share of all bills. That's the responsibility you agree to when sharing a house. She can't choose not to pay just because she's choosing not to be there

zl1whqvjs75cdy · 06-05-2015 5:05pm

Fixed costs like UPC you pay, electricity and heat she's ok not to I reckon.

The_Morrigan · 06-05-2015 5:06pm

Don't forget the standing charges that apply to gas and electric regardless of use.

Into The Blue · 06-05-2015 5:07pm

Did she agree to get broadband before September?

Only thing she should be liable for is the standing charges on elec/gas/lpt

Chemical Byrne · 06-05-2015 5:08pm

All depends what was agreed to at the beginning.

If it was stated that bills were to be split equally and no mention was made of apportioning to usage or occupancy, well then I think she should be made to pay. Of course all this is much easier to enforce if it is in writing.

In any houseshare I've ever heard of bills are split equally unless stated otherwise, regardless of occupancy. Dividing according to use is impossible because you cannot measure it.

She is taking the piss with this one, a chancer.
Or if she is very young perhaps she is just inexperienced in this sort of thing.

zagmund · 06-05-2015 5:09pm

Tell her that's fine, but you won't be paying for UPC on Friday nights, Sunday evenings, Monday to Friday between 0800 and 1830, and probably some other times because you're out of the house. Let her sort out the billing.

While it's debatable whether it makes sense (or was agreed in advance) that someone who is out for long periods doesn't pay the unit charge for things like electricity & gas, they absolutely should be paying for the standing charge for *all* services - phone, broadband, gas, electricity, water, whatever you're having yourself, etc . . .

z

seamus · 06-05-2015 5:15pm

If she was going to be completely absent from the house for certain period of time - such as going away for a month, then I'd say that's fair enough. But if she's going to turn up here and there and spend one night a week or one night every two weeks in the house, then she has to pay her share, regardless.

This is the nature of sharing house bills - some people are in the house more than others, but that's the way it is. When she's in the house on her own some weekend, will she deduct that weekend from your share and cover that weekend herself? Will she fnck.

Mrs OBumble · 06-05-2015 5:31pm

seamus wrote: »

If she was going to be completely absent from the house for certain period of time - such as going away for a month, then I'd say that's fair enough..

It'd be fair enough if she moved out totally, and let the others get someone who was contributing in.

Frankly, if she wants the room held for her over summer, she should be paying an even share of all fixed charges.

Of course enforcing this will depend on what sort of lease or sharing agreement you have.

awec · 06-05-2015 5:33pm

This is only ok if when she says "she doesn't live here yet" that she actually means that she will not spend any time in the house in the next few months. But even then, she owes all fixed charges such as standing charges for utilities and internet.

But what happens if she starts turning up a night here and there? Are you going to start billing her for individual days? This just results in a messy situation that is just a lot more hassle for whatever housemate actually pays the bills and has to collect the cash.

Are you going to turn all the radiators etc off in her bedroom?

awec · 06-05-2015 5:38pm

Also, did she tell you this before you moved in, or just land it on you after the fact?

I would expect anyone who was not going to be paying an equitable share of the costs to be declaring that ahead of time, because it is most likely going to impact your costs and you could have got someone who was going to move in and contribute straight away.

If she didn't tell you ahead of time I'd be pissed off if I was you.

06-05-2015 5:51pm

If she pays rent she lives there and should pay 1/3 of the bills.

I had a house mate before who used to stay in the house maybe once a week on average and before he left he stayed in the house twice in 4 months and he paid 1/3 of every bill we had in the house gas, esb, internet, bins and sky.

I would refuse to have it any other way either, if you are paying your rent in a house share you live there and are automatically expected to pay 1/3 of the bills and not a cent less (unless there is some particular bill that is agreed in advance which wont be shared such as someone not into sports not paying their share of skysports)

SureYWouldntYa · 06-05-2015 7:18pm

Thanks for all the advice, I'll be insisting on her paying 1/3 of all bills, if not I'll let her take it up with the landlord

on_my_oe · 06-05-2015 10:54pm

The landlord isn't going to care about the bills?

Arbiter of Good Taste · 06-05-2015 11:15pm

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice, I'll be insisting on her paying 1/3 of all bills, if not I'll let her take it up with the landlord

She should pay 1/3 of fixed costs and standing charges if she is not there at all. If she spends any time there, then a straight 1/3 of all bills

SureYWouldntYa · 06-05-2015 11:16pm

on_my_oe wrote: »

The landlord isn't going to care about the bills?

goes through him, all in his name

sends us copies so no we ain't getting ripped

chickenlicken2 · 06-05-2015 11:45pm

Lived in a house share with 3 others one of whom stayed only Mon eve to Thurs morning as he was just staying near his work. I sorted out the bills in the house and it was mutual agreement with all tenants that it would be unfair on him to pay the same as the rest of us, particularly in the winter when the heat was on at the weekend when people were around during the day. We agreed a set amount for bills for him. It was myself and the other tenants who suggested it to him, not his idea and he appreciated it.It worked well in that when bills were higher (winter) he was the one who suggested he increase the amount.
Given that it's been announced that she won't be paying I think she is taking the mick a bit. Could you compromise as others have suggested that she pays the portion of the standing charge?

SureYWouldntYa · 06-05-2015 11:47pm

chickenlicken2 wrote: »

Lived in a house share with 3 others one of whom stayed only Mon eve to Thurs morning as he was just staying near his work. I sorted out the bills in the house and it was mutual agreement with all tenants that it would be unfair on him to pay the same as the rest of us, particularly in the winter when the heat was on at the weekend when people were around during the day. We agreed a set amount for bills for him. It was myself and the other tenants who suggested it to him, not his idea and he appreciated it.It worked well in that when bills were higher (winter) he was the one who suggested he increase the amount.
Given that it's been announced that she won't be paying I think she is taking the mick a bit. Could you compromise as others have suggested that she pays the portion of the standing charge?

yeah me and the other guy in the house will be having a word with her soon, her paying at least standing charges is the least we want now

Cold War Kid · 06-05-2015 11:57pm

As others have said or alluded to: I wouldn't expect payment of the full third for bills like electricity and gas from someone who isn't there.
Bills that are a flat rate every month, and certainly rent, would be more warranting of full payment IMO (as it's the person's choice to vacate the premises for a lengthy stint) but with utilities, it's usage that determines most of their cost so I don't think it would be fair to expect payment for the usage aspect when they haven't used it. One less person using utilities is going to reduce the utility bills anyway.

Payment towards recurring charges fair enough though.

Graham · 07-05-2015 7:55am

Cold War Kid wrote: »

I wouldn't expect payment of the full third for bills like electricity and gas from someone who isn't there.

If the expectation was the third tenant was to move in with everyone else, I would expect them to pay almost a full one third of the bills.

It's going to cost almost the same to heat/light/power all the common areas of the house regardless of the occupation of the 3rd tenant. If the agreement was to split these costs three ways, it's not reasonable to expect the other 2 tenants to pick up the 3rd persons share.

If you're feeling particularly accommodating, perhaps offer to split 35%/35%/30% for any full months tenant number 3 does not occupy their room.

07-05-2015 9:38am

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

goes through him, all in his name

sends us copies so no we ain't getting ripped

If this is the case, surely she's the landlord's problem, not yours? You can choose to pay one third of each bill the landlord sends you and leave it up to them to deal with the third tenant.

07-05-2015 1:59pm

Arbiter of Good Taste wrote: »

She should pay 1/3 of fixed costs and standing charges if she is not there at all. If she spends any time there, then a straight 1/3 of all bills

She should pay 1/3 of all bills if she is there everyday or doesn't stay there for two months. The only reason people share a house is to save money on rent and bills, sharing with two people but with one not paying their share of the bills due to their choice of not being there increases the costs for other housemates which is unfair. I wont deny its an idea scenario, only really sharing with one other person but having bills divided by 3, but its still only fair to do it this way.

chickenlicken2 wrote: »

Lived in a house share with 3 others one of whom stayed only Mon eve to Thurs morning as he was just staying near his work. I sorted out the bills in the house and it was mutual agreement with all tenants that it would be unfair on him to pay the same as the rest of us, particularly in the winter when the heat was on at the weekend when people were around during the day.

I cant understand why you wouldn't ask for the full share of bills, especially as only staying there during the week is a common thing in a houseshare. As I said in a previous post I had a house mate who over the course of the almost two years we shared he stayed in the house on average no more than once a week. He might stay two nights one week or he mightn't show up for a month and even the times he did stay it was only to sleep about 70% of the time.

He was living in the house when I moved in and the group of housemates he lived with obviously decided he had to pay 1/3 of all bills and when I moved in I would not have accepted any less either he paid the full share of all bills as thats how house sharing works.

It also complicates things, I go home a lot at weekends should I pay less? Another housemate I had before was on the dole so was there 7 days a week all day everyday should he have paid more the list is endless, the only fair way is if you pay rent in the house you pay 1/3 of all bills.

chickenlicken2 · 07-05-2015 2:58pm

Liberty Jealous Bodyguard wrote: »

I cant understand why you wouldn't ask for the full share of bills, especially as only staying there during the week is a common thing in a houseshare. As I said in a previous post I had a house mate who over the course of the almost two years we shared he stayed in the house on average no more than once a week. He might stay two nights one week or he mightn't show up for a month and even the times he did stay it was only to sleep about 70% of the time.

He was living in the house when I moved in and the group of housemates he lived with obviously decided he had to pay 1/3 of all bills and when I moved in I would not have accepted any less either he paid the full share of all bills as thats how house sharing works.

It also complicates things, I go home a lot at weekends should I pay less? Another housemate I had before was on the dole so was there 7 days a week all day everyday should he have paid more the list is endless, the only fair way is if you pay rent in the house you pay 1/3 of all bills.

It was your choice to do it that way it was our choice to do it our way.

Fortunately nobody was petty minded and started trying to divide bills by the numbers of hours in occupation.

We were adults in a house share and we were able to discuss such matters rationally. It suited us to have someone there only half the week. We decided it was fair to divide that way and it worked extremely well for us.

Might not work for everyone but so is life.

07-05-2015 3:02pm

chickenlicken2 wrote: »

We were adults in a house share and we were able to discuss such matters rationally. It suited us to have someone there only half the week.

It suited me too to be basically only sharing with one other person but it also suited to only be paying 1/3 of the bills. In fact he was the best housemate possible.

Cold War Kid · 07-05-2015 7:58pm

Graham wrote: »

It's going to cost almost the same to heat/light/power all the common areas of the house regardless of the occupation of the 3rd tenant.

That's true. An exact split wouldn't be fair though. I let a room in my place for two college terms and the lady (fantastic tenant) wasn't there at weekends and away for the summer. I (IMO) couldn't have justified expecting her to pay exactly half the utility bills, so we split them about 65:35.
I wouldn't be a pushover either though (because I used to be, and learned from it!)

MugMugs · 07-05-2015 9:59pm

If the bills are in the landlords name let him deal with it. His name, his problem. Pay your share and let him sort her out.

I swindled the NSA · 08-05-2015 8:44am

Op its a houseshare not a bleedin hotel.

If you were going to be out of the country for six weeks would you be expecting a refund on your "unused months" car tax, tv licence, utility standing charges, broadband & TV subscriptions ?

Delta Kilo · 08-05-2015 8:48am

Im in a houseshare and due to the nature of my job I could be out of the country for 2 months at a time. I always, unquestionably, still pay my full share of all bills, an even split of 1/3 between the 3 of us.

Firstly, its not fair on the other guys in the house, they cant choose not to heat my room when they turn on the heat and when they moved in it was based on 3 people sharing bills.

Secondly, its pure decency, when I am away I cant tell the landlord Im not paying rent this month, why should it be any different with bills?

Our bottom line is, you pay rent for that month, you pay the bills for that month.

goz83 · 08-05-2015 9:47am

As long as the rent is paid to secure the room for the time gone, If she is happy enough for someone else to sleep in her heated, lighted room when she is not there, then maybe she could be let off the utilities, while the person enjoying the use of the utilities in her absence pays her 1/3 share. This is how a friend of mine in a 3 house share managed to convince the other house mate to pay up. It's petty to say "i wont be here, so i wont be paying".

I would be informing the tenant that both myself and the other tenant will be paying the LL our share of the bills and telling the LL that the absent party is not paying her share, out of some false sense of entitlement. Try to be nice though. You don't want to sour the relationship unnecessarily.

08-05-2015 9:50am

MugMugs wrote: »

If the bills are in the landlords name let him deal with it. His name, his problem. Pay your share and let him sort her out.

Not really, bills are in the LL's name in my place too. The bills arrive in his name to our address and we open them and pay them in the post office or over the phone he has no involvement at all so would cause a lot of hassle were we not to pay one.

Housemates and bills

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