Some of the easiest ways to work together and avoid disputes usually involve organising your share of the communal tasks or spaces. We would recommend discussing:

• Cleaning Rotas (how are you going to fairly share out cleaning the communal spaces?)
• Meter Rotas (if you’re on a gas or electricity meter, create a rolling rota of whose turn it is to pay each week)
• Shared food (could you agree to buy certain items in bigger quantities to save money?)
• Are there any considerations that you or your housemates need for the odd quiet(er) night? (If someone has a 9am lecture every Monday, they probably won’t appreciate a house party on a Sunday)

If you and your housemates do end up in disagreement, we would recommend the best first route being to arrange a chat.

This could be one to one, or as a house if you all feel the issue is wider.

It is best to approach an issue in a non-accusatory way. If you are discussing it in a “house meeting”, try to cover a few different topics so that it doesn’t feel like an individual is being singled out, for instance requesting that everyone is a bit quieter after 11 pm in exam season, or that you all do a bit more cleanin

Private landlords will often not want to get involved in housemate disputes. However, if things do worsen and you feel they cannot be resolved, you can approach your landlord to highlight that the behaviours of your housemates may be breaching the rules of the tenancy. If the landlord is willing to speak to your housemate, this might help to fix the problem.