Is this fair?

[Attethersend43]

In my houseshare I have volunteered to sort internet. It's a direct debit but paying upfront for line rental. I'll then cancel when I move out after 12 months (the length of the rental contract and the Internet contract). Is it fair to ask people to transfer me their share now rather than chasing for £3 every month?

I was also thinking that each housemate (5 of us) could have a nominated bill to be in charge of eg gas/elec, rent, water, council tax, tv license. And obviously we would pay them but they would have ultimate responsibility to transfer? Again, is this fair?

Bump

Set up an account which you all pay in to each month by standing order and pay all bills from that. No chasing required.

You could say "would you rather give me £36 now or be chased every month?" If they give you three quid at a time in cash you'll be tempted to spend it in Subway.

Is everyone committed to the year's lease? Any danger someone would move out in January and ask for £24 back?

And yes, joint account with direct debits.

Slightly depends on the terms of your lease though, regarding who is responsible if one defaults.

Everyone is committed to the year, yes. Joint acc sounds like a good idea but too complicated I think. One girl has already offered to be in charge of sending rent to LL (in fairness everyone has been v v quick with payments so far) so happy to stay like that.

At uni we all took one bill to be 'in charge of' and did a rec every Q to even it out. Just needs someone to be on top of a spreadsheet.

We all sent rent individually tho.

In later more grown up house shares there was usually one person as 'lead tenant' who dealt with all the bills and generally set up a separate account from their own current account, and we all paid into that.

Have a kitty for buying bog roll, washing up liquid etc.

Would be careful about joint account. One person could empty it and dash. Happened to my cousin. And as it is joint they can.

Yeah I think will steer clear from joint account. Good advice though! Lead tenant idea is a good one, but what's in it for them? Lots of admin and chasing people for money!

It sounds a bit complicated, one person in charge of each bill - so you all have to give your share of the rent to A, your share of the electricity to B, your share of the gas to C? Money flying around everywhere!

I know what you mean but I feel like that's fairest in the long run. Unless someone is "lead tenant"? I don't know really.

If you owe someone for gas, ask to deduct £3 from what you pay, likewise with the other bills.

Or if one person pays all the bills then deduct £36 from what you pay (if it's all paid in one go).

Just have a joint account which requires all of you to agree to payments out. Once DD's sre set up for bills it should be relatively straightforward.