Unhappy with your housemates?

First thing to remember is that it is perfectly normal to disagree and fall out! You all have individual personalities and different outlooks on life but if you communicate effectively and respect each other, life is likely to be a lot easier.

It is vital to talk to each other and if one person is doing something to annoy you or cause friction in the house then talk about it and try to come to some agreement or compromise. The housemate might not even know that what they are doing is causing problems for you and if you don’t tell them, they can’t fix it!

You need to also ensure that you talk to outside agencies such as utilities suppliers, telephone companies and the landlord as well as each other to make sure that bills are paid on time and any problems that you need repairing are reported as soon as possible.

If there are disagreements occurring within the house and despite an informal chat with the housemate(s) causing problems nothing has changed, it may be necessary for someone within the group to try and call a house meeting. Invite all housemates to attend and give everyone a chance to speak and raise their concerns. To get things resolved it may be necessary to decide on action by a majority vote so not everyone will get what they want. You could invite the landlord to come and act as a mediator at the meeting if it is felt necessary but you should be aware that the landlord does not have to agree to this.

If despite doing all this problems still occur and you feel you have no option but to move out then come and see an adviser as if you are on a fixed term agreement you will have a remaining rent liability if you just leave and we would never advise that you just walk away without speaking to someone first!

If you are in UWE managed accommodation then you can also contact your accommodation manager too if you are having persistent housemate trouble.