Finding Flatties

Finding Flatties

Finding suitable flatmates is tough. It doesn’t help that it’s the most important part of obtaining great flat chemistry. However, you need not fear. With a few sensible tips and clear communication at the start, you can (maybe) have a successful year!

“You never truly know someone until you’ve lived with them.” I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to hear this while under a mother’s watch. The key to identifying future flatmates is to ask the tough questions. It’s easy to sign a lease with friends. But it’s essential to ensure your compatibility. Could you deal with their quirks around the clock, for a whole year?

Messy vs. Clean

If you’re a messy bugger, whose hobbies include letting your washing pile build to the size of Mount Cook and reusing the same cereal bowl to avoid the dreadful duty of scrubbing dishes, you might consider bagging yourself a clean freak for a flatmate to take the stress of independence off your shoulders. This may sound great, but you will probably clash with the clean freak when they ask you to stop being so fucking lazy. If someone is messy by nature and hates cleaning, then even if they occasionally do help, it won’t be up to the standard expected by the clean freaks. It may be a smart idea to flat with other messy people so you can all live in a nice mess pile together.

Equally, clean freaks can unite and create a spotless, enjoyable environment for themselves.

Sometimes one’s ideal living environment isn’t so attainable because each member has a different tolerance for mess. If this is the case, agree on the appropriate state of common living areas before moving in. To maintain this agreement, flatmates can rotate cleaning chores each week using a chore chart or wheel.

Study vs. Party … Or Both?

What are your intentions for the year? Are you a first-time flatter? Straight out of a residence and looking to continue your fresher party ways in a flat on Hyde or Castle? Or perhaps you’re a forth year who’s done their party time and is now focused on the books around the clock?

Flatmates often have opposing intentions. Before you move in together, agree on some ground rules. Noise could be one. What days is the music allowed to be pumping, if at all? Are rules needed about ciggies, drugs and alcohol? Do you care where people smoke? Do you care if they light a spliff at breakfast? Do you care if they come home drunk during exam period? I have this handy tip for you though: check your insurance for personal liability in case a flattie passes out while the oven is on … it can happen. It’s important to have these things agreed early on because if the issue arises later in the year, it can be hard to break established bad habits.

Money

Can your future flatties be trusted to pay their share? You don’t want to be paying extra bills to keep the power going because one flatmate has let the team down. To avoid this problem, agree on a method of handling bills. One way is to assign each bill to a different flatmate, who is then responsible for organising the payment of that bill. Usually, that person would divide the total among the flat, collect the money, then pay.

The other option is to get one or two people to take care of the finances and get everyone to put money in each week, just as they would for rent. $10 per week should cover you for electricity for example, and then the leftover funds can go towards an end of year activity. 

Personalities

It can be hard, if not impossible, to know if you have the right mix of personalities before you move in. Not knowing who you’re compatible with can sometimes lead to major flat clashes. Issues normally stem from something like stealing food or not doing dishes. One story included ripping up a fellow flattie’s mail, placing rotting food in their underwear drawer and dropping their toothbrush down the toilet. All this unfortunately led to the victim being hospitalised with a vile stomach infection. This person understandably decided to move out.

Meet each flatmate before moving in. Too often people forget to meet that friend of a friend who sounds all good on paper but then turns to shit in reality. Listen to your instinct — everyone knows that feeling when they’re a bit on edge about someone. Play it safe and if doesn’t feel right, keep looking.

There is one rule a flat should always keep to. Don’t screw the crew! The reasons are obvious: to avoid a potential falling out, any awkwardness down the track upon splitting, the jealousy one might feel if the other were to meet someone else, and because the rest of the flat doesn’t want to drift off to sleep to a thumping noise every night. Be considerate, people.

When Shit Hits the Flat Fan

You may have moved into your flat with a bunch of your besties but quickly realised that living with them just isn’t as great as you hoped. No one’s doing the dishes, surprise parties are constantly pumping, and there is never any hot water.

The first port of call is, of course, to try to talk it out. Instead of leaving the infamous passive aggressive notes, dealing with these issues through diplomacy and clear communication will result in a better outcome. Call a flat meeting if speaking up at the time fails, and express clearly what the problem is.

Obviously, this doesn’t always work. This is where the Student Support Centre comes in. You can drop in and have a chat to the support crew at 5 Ethel Benjamin Place. Philippa Keaney from OUSA Student Support says they can help with “all aspects of flatting: repairs, an elusive landlord or agent, issues with bond, flatmate dramas, financial strife, assisting students with formal processes such as 14-day notices and Tenancy Tribunal applications, and more”. Mediation can often identify and solve the underlying issues.

Keaney explained that it’s really tough to get out of a fixed-term lease and find a new place to live, as well as someone to replace you. Worst case scenario, you might end up having to pay two lots of rent just to get away. However, if it is unbearable and you have to leave, you still have to figure out who is going to pay for your place in a fair and just way. Student Support can help with this, too.

If you’re in a violent, threatening or abusive situation in your flat, get out immediately and seek help from one of the following: the police, the university proctor, Women’s Refuge, or the OUSA Student Support Centre.

Flatting can be great fun or a total nightmare, and finding the right flatmates is a big part of that puzzle. If there are issues while you’re hunting for a flat, it’s okay to pull out and go with a different plan. Take your time! There is no rush – there are always places left when you return in February each year.

If you’re a newbie to flatting or having shit experiences, then going through the agreement might help!

For more help, contact help@ousa.org.nz 

OUSA Students Support Centre Flatting Agreement

The following contract is a guide for you and your flatmates as you plan how your flat will run.  Go through it at your first flat meeting – this should be well before you move in or even sign a lease.  It’s up to you how much weight you put on this agreement, and of course you can change it to suit the kind of people you are.  Communication – before you move in and while you’re flatting – is the key to success.

Meals:

What are your food and cooking preferences?  Does anyone have any special dietary needs or religious requirements affecting what they can eat?

Is anyone going to be out at dinnertime because of labs/lectures/work/other commitments?

If yes, who does dinner need to be saved for?  On what nights?

We agree to eat together on: Mon/Tue/Wed/Thur /Fri/Sat/Sun

We’ll make our own arrangements on [what nights?]

Does anyone need cooking lessons, or help with cooking?    

Shopping:

If we want the following items, we’ll buy our own:

We’ll pay for the flat shopping by

- Putting $____ into the flat account each week, OR

- ____ will pay for the shopping, then split the bill.

We agree to take turns doing the shopping, OR ____ will do the shopping every week, 

OR We’ll do it together.

We’ll split the cost of the taxi money to get the shopping home,

OR

We’ll give ____ some petrol money to use his/her car.

Big eaters will pay $____ more per week than others.

Vegetarians and vegans will :

Cleaning:

Often flatmates rotate the chores each week, but sometimes each flatmate decides to take on one job for the whole year.  Here are the main chores:

- Kitchen: benchtop, oven and stovetop, microwave, fridge and floor.

- Bathroom: sinktop, basin, toilet, bath, shower, floor.  

- Common areas: tidy and vacuum lounge, dining area, stairs and hall.

- Odd jobs: putting out the rubbish and recycling, emptying scraps bucket, doing dishes in the weekend.

- Shopping: writing the list, doing the shopping, getting it home and putting it away.

- Any other jobs: at your flat, it might be the tenants’ responsibility to take care of the lawn and garden or you might have firewood to bring in.

•Cleaning roster is attached (Y/N)

Tidiness:

How tidy do you agree to keep the common areas of the house?  

(If you have any pet hates, now is a good time to talk about them.)

Phone, Sky and internet:

Do we even need a phone?

Will you get Sky?
Who will pay?
Will flatmates who don’t pay be allowed to watch?

Will you get internet access?
Who will pay, and what kind of plan will you get?

Noise:

Do you want to make rules around:

- Visitors?
- Parties?
- Playing music/having the TV on?
- Having quiet at certain times of the day/week?

Electricity:

Do you want to put any limits on:

- How much each flatmate can use heaters?
- How much each flatmate can use the clothes dryer?

Bills:

Our flat agrees that:

- Every bill has a different person responsible for organising payment. 

- The person responsible for a bill divides the total amongst the flatmates, collects the money then pays the bill (making arrangements for times like semester breaks when people are away).

- Each flatmate pays their share as soon as they can.

OR

- We will pay $____  into the flat account each week.

- Who will set up the flat account, who will have access to it, who will set up and stop automatic payments, and who will close the account at the end of the year?

This article first appeared in Issue 24, 2015.
Posted 12:45pm Sunday 13th September 2015 by Sam Hendry.