Housemate’s boyfriend moving in-split rent?

[Lampyshady]

I live in a flatshare with 3 others. One of the girls has a much bigger room and an en-suite and pays a bit more rent and the other 3 of us share a bathroom and pay a bit less. Girl with big room has asked if her boyfriend can move in and share her room for about 6 months, and said we’d split the bills by 5. We all said we’d think about it. He’s here a lot anyway and has been going through a very hard time and we get on well so it wouldn’t be so bad-and we’d still be sharing a bathroom between 3 so it wouldn’t add to bathroom waiting times.
We suggested that he should pay rent and the girlfriend said oh he’s going to pay half of my rent so it’s fair. I think this is unreasonable, since there will be 5 of us in the house/using the kitchen etc so I think the rent should be split by 5 and the rent should be lowered for the rest of us too as a result of having one more flatmate.
I think it’s unfair that they will get to live in a nice house, in a big room in an expensive city for half the market rate, with the convenience of having their partner with them, while the rest of us pay nearly double and have the inconvenience of living with more people.
Their argument is that the rent is per room and it is only 1 room they are renting so as long as that room is paid for it’s none of our business/their finances are up to them.
Who is being unreasonable? And is this even legal-we weren’t planning on telling the landlord he’s moved in because it’ll (probably) only be for a few months.

@Babiesandboardgames

I think you should meet in the middle somewhere . Let's say you all pay 400 each and she pays 500. Under your proposals , it would be 2100/5 which would be 420 for each of them , or 840 for their room which is too high . Equally, 500 for 2 people (not 1 and that's an extra person sharing the living space ) isn't fair either I would suggest together they pay 600 so that the 3 others pay 33.33 less each and bills are lower because you have an extra person paying them I think that's fair :)

I agree with this and think this is the fairest way to split things.

Speak to your landlord and let them decide. If you all get evicted because she's subletting and you were party to it you're going to be paying a lot more than you are now for somewhere else in the current climate. Do it properly.

Not sure why everyone is being so po faced about telling the landlord, if it's only for six months. People do this all the time.

There should be some benefit to the rest of you to having another person in the flat, otherwise why would you agree? He should be contributing an amount for using the communal spaces etc, not just the room his girlfriend shares.

On the upside, she could have him staying over every night for six months without doing any of this, so the fact he'll be paying bills is at least something.

@DisappearingGirl

Ooh we had this exact situation 20 years ago! Lovely flatmate with a lovely boyfriend we all got on with. He moved into her room - slightly different situation to yours as it was a small room with no en suite.

We let him move in rent free (but contribute to bills), as he was going through a tough time. However he later got a job and it did lead to some resentment that he still wasn't paying rent.

I wonder if you could do something in-between paying no rent and paying full rent. So you could split the rental into a) room and b) rest of house. There are 4 rooms and 5 of you will be sharing the rest of the house. This adds up to 9. So you could say that the couple each pay their share of "rest of house" but share their room cost, so they each pay 1.5/9 of the total cost. And the other three of you pay for your room + rest of house so you each pay 2/9 of total cost. So if the monthly rent was £900, the couple would pay £150 each (or however they want to split £300 between them) and the rest of you would pay £200 each. Or something like that. Could weight "room" and "house" a bit differently in the calculation. Also might depend how much more they are already paying for the room!

The other thing I would say is to think about the non-financial aspects. In our case it was generally fine and we all got on, but there was a bit of grumbling as the housemate + boyfriend did end up taking over the kitchen, the TV etc quite a bit and also leaving their stuff everywhere (partly because they were sharing a small room). Also once the boyfriend moved in, he never moved out of course, until we all went our separate ways! So once you're in the arrangement it's hard to get back out of it. Having said that we all generally got on fine and are still in touch now.

Good luck!

Thanks, I like the room and rest of house idea

They are right that they are sharing a room which doesn't affect the others but he's using communal areas like kitchen and lounge which should incur some sort of bill.

Yanbu to want a financial incentive to agree and for that incentive to be more than the lowered utilities.

Compromise and agree on how much of your rent is for rooms and how much is for common areas.

Ie housemate and her bf rent 4 rooms (bedroom, bathroom which are of their exclusive use) along with kitchen and lounge which they share with the rest of you.

The rest of you also have four rooms 50% of which you share with housemate and her bf.

So 50% of the rent should be equally divided between you all as should bills and 50% should not as they are still the original two rooms your housemate already had for her exclusive use.

I'd just say no. You'll probably find it changes the dynamic of the flat and it feels much more crowded with them there as a couple. I had this setup with a friend for the last two months of our tenancy (her boyfriend was lovely though and did contribute to the rent for both of us). It's amazing how much space another person (especially if a large man) takes up. He liked cooking as well, so it became awkward to use the kitchen when he was cooking for both of them as he'd 'manspread' (for want of a better word ) and use all the pots, the hobs and the oven. They're still very good friends but I was glad when we all moved on.

YANBU. Similar happened to my daughter at Uni. Flatmate moved partner in who contributed to her share of the bills only. One call to the estate agent and it was rectified. The house didn't have a license for more than 4 people so off she went!
I think your housemate is being a CF!

If the bills are being split by 5 then I actually think that’s pretty reasonable, financially speaking. As long as he also contributes his fair share to household purchases like loo roll, washing up liquid etc.

However, more generally I would really not be ok with a flatmate’s boyfriend moving in. I’ve been there and it did NOT go well. A couple living there totally changes the dynamic and you suddenly feel like you’re all living in their place. They commandeer the sofa and TV for cosy evenings together or take over the whole kitchen to make dinner and you feel like an awkward gooseberry in your own home.

And I can almost guarantee he’ll stay longer than they say he will. My friend’s terrible boyfriend moved in for ‘a few weeks’ and actually stayed for months. It was awful. Trying not to over-project here but… tread carefully!

He absolutely should be paying his fair share towards bills - which I understand he is offering to do.

With regard to the rooms - currently it is on a "per room" basis as one is paying more for the large room - if it was a "per person" basis, you'd all currently be paying the same. I think its reasonable to keep it on the same basis as before "per room". You certainly can't expect 2 people to share one room and pay the same each as one person with their own room - especially since you made them pay more previously just because they had a larger room. It's chopping and changing the calculation method to always make it benefit you to their detriment.

So, in essence, I wouldn't have any issues at all with what they are proposing, it seems reasonable based on the way you have previously split the rent.

I'd check the tenancy agreement and see whether it says anything about having someone else living there. Could invalidate the insurance or cause you other issues if done without the LL knowledge. If the tenancy agreement allows it then I'd not charge rent but split the bills 5 ways. Set some ground rules too about keeping shared areas clean, not using shared areas to WFH etc.

It’s a flat share and they’ve worked the individual rent out based on the room size. I don’t think it’s fair that the flat share is now for 5 people, that’s a big difference.

It isn't legal
He hasn't paid a deposit. Any issue with the condition of the house after you all leave will not impact him In any way
Will he expect to have mates round once he gets comfy
Dies he work. He will be liable for council tax on the whole property if you are all students
Landlord may only be allowed to let to students

I’m not sure about telling the landlord, will think about it. He never comes around (lives abroad mostly) and I’m fairly sure he’d never find out so don’t want to make things awkward for my friends by telling him. When there’s no way to prove that he’s not just staying over every night and paying her money for something else (not like the landlord will check their bank statements). He was planning on leaving some stuff at his parents and having that as his address for the bank etc. so I’m not sure if that technically breaks the tenancy or not-is there an official difference between staying somewhere every night and giving your girlfriend (or friends if we get him to contribute to us too) some money, and subletting?

If she is using their bathroom will he feel it is okay to do a massive ,smelly dump in the bathroom you 3 share.
Or spend ages in the shower because she us in the ensuite

@ISayItLikeItIs

why should the rent be split by 5 if he doesn't have his own room? He's sharing a room with his GF (which y'all agreed to) and he's splitting utilities.

They have a private bathroom. Shared use of rest of house. So the couple will have two rooms they have sole use of. The rest have one room.

Five is a significant number, as it means the house would count as a "large" HMO. All large HMOs must be licensed; it varies by area for smaller ones. So you must tell the landlord, and be prepared for the answer to be an immediate no if the property does not already have an HMO license.

It’s not just the bedroom and bathroom though, it’s an extra person in the living room and kitchen. It also changes the dynamic if you’re living with a couple compared to all separate individuals (especially if he’s the only male). And you definitely shouldn’t do it without telling the LL or you could all end up in trouble.

I wouldn’t agree to it unless the rent was recalculated to take into account that they have 2 people. Perhaps not 5 ways (though bills should be 5 ways!) but definitely so that you all benefit from him moving in, since you all have the inconvenience of an extra person

Yabu. They're sharing a room and he's putting money towards the bills, if I was in your position I wouldn't expect him to pay rent too.

I’d be wondering about licensing too. I used to live next door to an HMO. It was licensed for a set number of tenants and the licence also specified that it was one person per room. At one point, three out of the five tenants had partners living with them. We had overflowing bins all the time as the house wasn’t set up for so many people. Also more noise and parking issues on the street. There is a reason there is licensing and conditions for HMOs.

@AngelinaFibres

If she is using their bathroom will he feel it is okay to do a massive ,smelly dump in the bathroom you 3 share. Or spend ages in the shower because she us in the ensuite

Also this! I once lived in a house share where everyone else had an en suite so in theory I would be the only one using the main bathroom. This didn’t happen in practice, even without there being two people sharing the same en suite

They are complete piss taking CFs!

Of course she thinks it’s fair, fair for HER! Not fair on you guys at all.

He needs to pay his share, not half her share.

Unless he is not intending to leave the bedroom, then he needs to pay some rent too.

Yes they should pay more rent to take into account the extra person using the common areas.
Maybe decide on % of the rent of the 3 same price rooms that is for the common areas and multiple this amount by 4 ( as should be currenty the same worth to all tenants) and then divide by 5.
Adddiitionai rent she currently pays is for the larger ensuite room only part.
For example if the normal room rent is 400 and you decide the common areas is worth 50% of this rent. Multiple 200 by 4 so 800 of total rent is for common areas.
So if now 5 tenants, divide the 800 by 5, 160 each. -> for 3 of you your rent is now 160 ÷3 less = 400 -53 = 347
Other tenant single rent has 160 added to it to become a joint rent with her boyfriend.

Otherwise your friend should look for new accommodation with her boyfriend suite to a couple rather than house sharing.

@AngelinaFibres

If she is using their bathroom will he feel it is okay to do a massive ,smelly dump in the bathroom you 3 share. Or spend ages in the shower because she us in the ensuite

Oh god and I presume his guests as well as hers will want to use the shared bathroom not their private bathroom too so yes he needs to pay rent as well as her.