It makes economic sense to live in shared housing for many graduates and young professionals. You get the freedom of not living by yourself but without the high expense of living alone, especially in a new city where you may be working or studying. Many students live with housemates during university.
Shared Student Housing
A property qualifies as a house in multiple occupation (HMO) if it’s occupied by at least three tenants. These tenants may be students, who share communal areas such as a kitchen or bathroom. A large HMO has five or more tenants and is at least three storeys high. Both students and professionals can occupy HMOs. The rent varies depending upon the house you choose to share with your fellow students. Houses of a higher quality can result in a higher charge. The rent charge will also differ depending on the city. Professional houses are usually located near good transport links. Student houses are normally centred around university campuses. Both joint and sole tenancies are commonly used in HMOs. Student houses are usually rented with joint tenancy agreements. Sole tenancies are generally more popular in professional accommodation.
How are Bills Divided?
The tenancy agreement should state clearly who is responsible for utilities. Landlords sometimes include this cost into the rent. If you have to pay bills separately, an organised system must be formed. Otherwise, payments can easily be made late, or some housemates may end up paying more than others.
Create a Joint Account
Creating a joint account allows everybody to be fully aware of the utility charges. But this can be tricky when tenants don’t yet know or trust each other. If the account goes overdrawn or one person has a poor credit history, it could have a bad effect on everybody else’s credit rating. It might be more suitable to transfer monthly payments into one tenant’s account. But if the bills are put under one person’s name, they will be held responsible for any late payments. A bill-splitting tool can divide all payments into one monthly cost per tenant. This ensures the responsibility doesn’t fall on one person. Also it ensures that everybody pays their fair share.
Also TV licences are often not paid for by landlords, unless they provide the TV. In sole tenancies, each housemate will need individual TV licences to cover their room. Renters with joint tenancies will only need one TV licence to cover the entire house.
Can you live in student accommodation without being a student?
Can non-students live in student housing? If you aren’t a part time or full time student, you won’t be able to live in the university rooms in any college. The only option is to find a rented accommodation.
To find student accommodations abroad we recommend the following websites