qube 3570 Report post Posted August 5, 2015 Hi all Just wondering about this for a few days and thought id post up here to ask for advice and thoughts from people who are flatting or have flatmates. We have a big house and usually have a few flatmates to fill the rooms. They pay a weekly amount for the room and all utilities but food is all separate/not included. What kind of rules do you guys have? Eg. Washine machine can only use 3 times per week or something like that etc 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CamB 48 Report post Posted August 5, 2015 Watching with interest - I have 4 children aged 6 and under and they have no respect, don't help out around the house and not only use the washing machine whenever they want ... but they expect my wife or I to do it. They also don't pay their rent or share of utilities, and expect food to be included. 12 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
huff3r 347 Report post Posted August 5, 2015 (edited) I just took all mine from the department of building and housing website. They have a sample flatsharing agreement on there. Wish I'd implemented more rules like your suggestion though, paying power bills sucks when your paying 2/3rds and using more like 1/2. I'd be strict on heating too, obviously dont make them freeze but if you have sufficient heating, eg heatpump, then ban all other heating for sure! Edit: Also ban them from owning Toyotas. Always a wise move. Edited August 5, 2015 by huff3r Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
polley 916 Report post Posted August 5, 2015 (edited) Eg. Washine machine can only use 3 times per week or something like that etc Thats a bullshit rule. Everyone clean up their own mess / dishes in the kitchen. Dont eat other peoples food. General respect for each other, incl noise etc. It's not really that hard unless you're living with sh*t heads or students. Im sure students are prob the worst, only benefit with students is partys on the reg and meeting new people(girls) all the time. Edited August 5, 2015 by polley 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
polley 916 Report post Posted August 5, 2015 Watching with interest - I have 4 children aged 6 and under and they have no respect, don't help out around the house and not only use the washing machine whenever they want ... but they expect my wife or I to do it. They also don't pay their rent or share of utilities, and expect food to be included. Kick them out. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ahmedsinc 414 Report post Posted August 5, 2015 Yup, agree with Polley there. If you have flatties that use the washer more often, run their own heater in room etc etc then suggest they pay a little more towards utilities. There are calculators around that can estimate power, water usage etc so fair allowances can be made. Impossible / bordering on fanaticism to calculate each bill monthly per person but a fair estimation would be reasonable. Have lived with clean freaks (obsessively wiping & disinfecting every surface, even if they hadn't been used / touched / looked at) control freaks (dude would sit there and make a buzzing noise if the pantry door was open for more than 20 seconds, also turned the hot water cylinder off each night so's to 'save power'), flatmates that f**ked at seriously inappropriate times (while entertaining girlfriends parents over Sunday lunch), ones that stole my gear / guitars / beer / cigarettes and a whole other bunch of stuff that I've mostly blocked from memory. Quite glad I'm not in that position anymore.... good luck however you choose to handle it!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DR1FTMONKEY 15 Report post Posted August 5, 2015 Saw this on the New Zealand subreddit last week, thought it was pretty good, wish I did this with a few people we've had in the past: Care of pelirrojo on Reddit (link to post https://www.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/3emcr2/looking_for_advice_on_setting_up_a_flat/ ): I've been running flats for years now, and I've got it down to a fine art now. I'll address the 'keeping things smooth' part. First, make sure you have a written agreement with every non-tenant flatmate. Here is an agreement provided by the tenancy.govt.nz website - without this, they have no rights, and you have no legal basis for taking a bond, requiring regular rent payments or anything. With this, you have a formal arrangement whereby you specify notice period, payment amounts, due dates etc. Essential. Two weeks notice, two weeks bond, rent paid one week in advance is the minimum you should require; even in that situation someone can still leave you out of pocket if they disappear on rent; you'll still have to cover up to a month's worth of bills on top of the two weeks! Consider charging a flat rate for bills - you don't need to chase people up as it's paid every week; it is included in the two weeks bond; you have much less paperwork overhead; on the downside, bills get more expensive in winter and cheaper in summer so you'll have to manage that. If you do this, then you can also budget for cleaning products, toilet paper, rubbish bags etc out of this amount. Create a bank account exclusively for the flat; I'd suggest you make two - a current account for rent, and a savings account for people's bonds. The last thing you want is to go borrow money to pay someone's bond back because you've spent it. In terms of house culture - be picky with who you have move in. Better to wait for a couple of weeks and get a good flatmate than just get the first person who knocks on the door. Imagine if you had a good flatmate who moved out because you let in a bad flatmate - then you've got an empty room AND a bad flatmate. Be consistent & reliable. Lead by example. Don't be picky. Avoid passive-aggressive behaviour; if you have to bring anything up make sure you speak to them in person. You might like to come up with some house rules; they don't have to be strict, they can be very reasonable. They are a great way to communicate to new flatmates what the boundaries and expectations of the people living there are, without people needing to test each others boundaries. An example - one of the classic flatmate issues is: Steve's new girlfriend has been staying more and more frequently; she's pretty much living in the house, paying no rent and contributing nothing to expenses. Your house rules could state that "guests are welcome to stay, but if they stay longer than 3 nights a week then a contribution of $10/night is required." Make sure you get some emergency contact information from the flatmates in case you need to get in touch with someone if something goes wrong (accident, hospital, sick, etc). I make a document up for the new flatmate specifying move-in date, first rent due date, rent amount, and what days the rent covers (i.e. rent is due on Fridays. Rent period is weekly starting every Sunday) - this is really really useful when it comes to the flatmate moving out - this document lets you know exactly when their last payment is due, if they're one or two weeks in advance etc. The rent period is useful because it means they can move out on Saturday allowing the new flatmate to move in on Sunday. That's all I have for now; any questions welcome. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qube 3570 Report post Posted August 5, 2015 thanks for all the posts! didnt expect so many replies. yep we got formal agreements written up and signed for each person with two weeks bond, two weeks notice and one week rent in advance as the standard rule on top of very basic household rules. the washing machine thing never even crossed my mind until i started noticing one girl who would do her washing twice a day... every day. shes leaving this weekend so its fine but thought it might be something worth considering in the future rule list. i dont really wana be like YOU CAN ONLY WASH YOUR CLOTHES ON MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY, but if theres no general guideline i think its harder to enforce it later on. rather get some initial guide put in place that can be worked around with in the future. another major issue for me is cooking/eating/drinking is it okay for someone to cook and eat for over 2 hours nearly everyday? i dont get it. it restricts me and everyone else from using the kitching/living room (its all one big area). also, drinking and talking loudly in the living room disturbing others. ive spoken to two of the flatties who are friends and after the third warning i had to ask them to move out because they would drink and chat past midnight on workdays and also they would hog the kitchen for hours, sometimes as long as 3 hours. i dont want to put in the rule list "dinner time is only 30 mins" or something but same problem with the washing machine situation, if i dont put in some kind of guideline, they seem to take it for granted and have no respect. obviously the best thing is to wait for the right flatmate and i will definitely be more cautious with who i accept into MY home. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
polley 916 Report post Posted August 5, 2015 Yeah the cooking thing is a pain in the ass if you're all cooking separately, waiting for the kitchen and them to clean up their mess. Our rent was a set rate incl internet and power which made things easy and no arguments on someone using more power than others etc. Internet was sometimes a pain as we had someone move in that made you tube videos as a living and he was always uploading which made things unusable for everyone else. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DR1FTMONKEY 15 Report post Posted August 5, 2015 (edited) Story of my life, our last flatties were my and my girlfriend's best friends who happened to be a couple - terrible idea living with them in the first place, but there general cooking time was about 3 hours each night, and they'd bring up how often we would get takeaways.. wonder why haha. But your never going to have the perfect situation I guess, I'm sure I'm not perfect to live with. With the washing situation, maybe just say your doing your washing every Saturday or Sunday (and another day if needed) or whatever, they can use it any other day, that way you know that your sorted. Edited August 5, 2015 by DR1FTMONKEY Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
_ethrty-Andy_ 2132 Report post Posted August 6, 2015 Only 2x rules i really have here is the shed and driveway are mine and off limits, and music, movies and sex need to be kept at appropriate volume, none wants to hear you bass drops or rhythmic grunting 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kulgan 1042 Report post Posted August 6, 2015 Gawd, I love living on my own. I honestly dont think I could be bothered with the hassle of having to deal with others and thier sh*t anymore. I even bought a place just out of town so I dont have to put up with neighbours either..lol Ok, I may be a wee bit antisocial :rambo: But I live by my rules and nobody elses. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qube 3570 Report post Posted August 6, 2015 ^ everyone is an unique individual dave its all good 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
