Top Tips for Being a Good Housemate

Are you moving in with friends for your next year at university? Try not to worry too much about how it'll go, as long as you follow the basic rules of living with other people it'll be fine.

Having understanding, kindness, politeness, and a few basic rules and codes of respect can go a long way. This will reduce both your and your housemate's stress levels, helping all of you to enjoy your time studying at university.

That said, here are some of our top tips for being a good housemate.

Respect Your Housemate's Belongings

There's little else more annoying than having someone else eat your food without asking, or using your possessions behind your back. This goes both ways, so make sure you avoid taking anyone else's food without asking first.

This goes doubly for the most precious resource for any student; alcohol. Stealing alcohol will definitely lead to many arguments and a breach of trust that will take a long time to recover.

The biggest thing you can do to respect other people's belongings is to make sure that the front door is locked when you leave. You don't want to be responsible for someone else's stuff being stolen because you didn't take the time to properly lock the door.

Do Your Part of the Cleaning

One of the main causes of disputes in student households is in regards to cleaning. Everyone has a different definition of what is clean, and it's important to define this at the beginning of the tenancy to avoid any arguments.

A common strategy is to create a cleaning rota which is agreed on with everyone in the house. This can split up the chores into manageable amounts for everyone, so they are more likely to be done. You can also make chores easier and fun by doing them together with your friends.

Make sure you take the time to clean up after yourself. Leaving your mess for others to clean is not only rude, but it's not fair for your housemates to clean up after you.

Privacy is Important

Everyone deserves to have a private space where they can be by themselves. This can be very important for some people, who recharge by spending time alone and away from other people.

As an example, always make sure to knock when someone's bedroom door is shut. Even if you can hear them inside, respect their privacy if they don't answer you; they may just want to spend time to themselves.

Equally, make sure that everyone in the house knows when you have guests visiting. If you do have guests over for any reason, you should respect your housemate's schedules and not stay up to late making noise, as they may need to sleep to get to early lectures.

If You're Annoyed, Sleep it Over

When you're in the moment, you may get rather irritated by something your housemate has said or done, but after sleeping on it you may find that you aren't that bothered by it anymore. Tensions can get quite high, but sometimes the best thing to do is have a good night's sleep, and ask yourself in the morning if it's something you still want to raise with the household.

Try to avoid leaving passive-aggressive notes when something does annoy you. These rarely solve any issues, and often just cause more arguments when they annoy the person they're aimed at. If there is something you'd like to bring up, it's best to discuss it openly with the particular person.

Be Open to Criticism

It's just as important to be open and receptive to complaints or criticism from your friends as it is to catch them out when they aren't being good housemates. It's often much easier to simply make a small change rather than make the entire problem bigger than it has to be.

You may find that you don't click with someone after you move in with them, which is a perfectly normal thing to happen. Even so, as long as everyone acts with politeness and kindness, you should be able to make it through the year without any major problems occurring.

How Unihousing Can Help

Located next to the University of Birmingham, Unihousing is an accommodation provider and landlord since 1984. We can provide quick responses to repairs using our qualified team of tradesmen. We're able to do this because we own all of our accommodation in the student village of Selly Oak. Our office is just a short distance away on Bristol Road, which allows us to deal directly with our tenants.

Unhousing was selected as the Number 1 Student Letting Agent in Birmingham by the UK's biggest fresher community, Unifresher.

Contact Unihousing today to find out more!