Your flat is your home, so think about what “home” means to you. What kind of environment do you want to live in, and with what kind of people? A word of caution: best friends don’t always make the best flatmates.
The majority of tenancy agreements for students in Dunedin are joint and fixed-term. A joint fixed-term agreement essentially identifies all flatmates as one tenant (“joint”). It is important to understand this because the impacts of a joint agreement gone wrong are massive. For example, if one of your flatmates stops paying rent, you and your other flatmates are responsible for any outstanding rent. This is just one reason why it is important to choose a flatmate wisely. Here are some questions that will help guide you when deciding who to live with.
10 Questions to ask a potential flatmate:
- Is this a rent that you can afford throughout the length of the fixed-term?
This can be an uncomfortable question to ask, but it is important to know from the get-go. It is a good idea to talk finance early on in the relationship, because you are in fact entering a financial contract together.
- What’s your position on cleaning?
One person’s ‘clean’ may be another person’s, well, ‘filthy’. Be honest with yourself about how tidy you are and choose a flatmate who is similar. It’s no fun for anyone if you hate mess and your flatmate is happy to leave dishes in the sink for a few days. If you choose a perfectionist for a flatmate and you are fairly laid back about the odd coffee cup in the sink, you may find that you’re the one being nagged.
- How do you think food shopping should be organised? What about cooking?
Cooking with your new flatmates can be a great way to build friendships, as well as potentially being more cost-effective than cooking for one. Dietary requirements, tastes in food and size of appetites are all important things to consider.
- What time of the day do you shower?
If you work similar schedules and both want to be showering at 7am this could be a problem. Try moving any unnecessary tasks out of the bathroom, like applying make-up or drying your hair, to free up more shower time.
- What are your thoughts around paying bills collectively?
Do you create flatting rules around shower usage? How are you going to pay your utilities? Have you opened a flatting account yet? These are important things to work out before starting your tenancy. Don’t be afraid to shop around for your utilities.
- How do you feel about heating bedrooms?
How will your flatties like to keep the common areas and bedrooms warm in the flat? Living in an adequately warm house is an important part of keeping ourselves well, but in Dunedin in the middle of winter, this will come with an increase to the power bill – an expectation that all flatties will need to manage!
- Are you planning to have friends around regularly?
Some people are very social, while others want to head home from work to some peace and quiet. Find out if your potential flatmates plan on having friends around for drinks or parties and see if that fits in with your usual routine.
- What about guests? Will they be staying over?
There’s nothing wrong with having a partner stay over one or two nights a week, but if they’re hogging the shower and have practically moved in then things can get a little tense. Be upfront with potential flatmates and let them know what you’d be comfortable with.
- What can you contribute to the flat?
Some flats are furnished, so only a few extra items are needed to get the flat all set. However, if you need to BYO furniture, there are plenty of cheaper options – think op shops and second-hand furniture stores. Get the flatties together to figure out what you need and divvy up who is buying what. Remember – you will need to think about what happens to the furniture at the end of the tenancy.
- Describe yourself in three words.
Get a feel for your potential flatmate’s personality and figure out if you’re likely to mesh well. You have to share a house with this person, after all!