New research shows eight in 10 admitted life with housemates isn’t always plain sailing — and money disputes top the list of grievances.
The most common house-share ‘icks’ are failing to clean up after cooking, a filthy bathroom, and abandoning dishes in the sink for days, research has revealed. A survey of 2,000 adults who have resided in a shared property over the past decade discovered 95% believed it was crucial to get along well with those you live with, but 84% confessed life with flatmates isn’t always straightforward.
Making noise at night (24%), failing to contribute to household tasks (22%) and not settling bills promptly (18%) are also amongst the most irritating habits they encountered. With frequent rows about hygiene (25%) and cleaning (20%).
Comedian and writer Fern Brady said: “I know from experience that living in flat-shares is not always simple. I’ve seen it all in over 20 rented homes – good, bad and ugly.”
It turns out, disputes about money and bills (32%) are the main cause for household disagreements.
According to the data by OnePoll, 53% have loved with someone who didn’t contribute their fair share financially. As a result, 31% frequently had to speak to flatmates about financial disagreements.
Another 28% regularly needed to push their flatmate to settle bills on time.
As many as 78% said having a method to monitor how much energy they were consuming in their shared property would have helped reduce the number of rows over bills.
But 84% of those who have had a smart meter in their shared accommodation said it was beneficial for tracking their energy expenses.
“Arguments about money and bills can really get under people’s skin, but it doesn’t have to be that way,” Brady said. She added that a smart meter can be a good way to keep track of how much money is being spent, “renters can feel more in control of their energy use.”
Victoria Bacon, a director at Smart Energy GB, added: “Smart meters take the guesswork out of energy bills by giving households a clearer picture of their usage and they can help housemates stay on top of bills.
“If you rent privately and the bills are in your name, it’s your choice to request a smart meter from your energy supplier.”
TOP 20 HOUSE-SHARE ICKS:
- Not cleaning up after cooking
- Leaving the bathroom dirty
- Leaving dirty dishes in the sink for days
- Leaving rubbish bins overflowing
- Being noisy late at night
- Not contributing to household chores
- Not washing up properly
- Not paying their share of the bills on time
- Playing music or TV too loudly
- Borrowing items without asking
- Leaving food to go off
- Slamming doors
- Leaving lights on unnecessarily
- Never replacing empty toilet roll
- Having guests over too often
- Turning the heating on or off without asking others
- Never replacing household essentials
- Not locking doors or windows at night / when leaving the house
- Leaving laundry in shared spaces
- Taking excessively long showers