Session 5: Living in shared households

Introduction

In this video, Bobby presents the focus of this session, which is all about moving into a shared rental home.

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Transcript

BOBBY SEAGULL:

From the age of 18, you may well start living away from home for at least part of the year. The most likely reason for this is that you move into further or higher education in another part of the country, although you may have to move if you start a job. So at some point, it's likely that you'll find yourself living in a shared rental with other young people.

If you go to uni, then you might be offered accommodation in student halls for the first year. After that, you'll probably move into a shared rental accommodation, like I did. Moving into a shared rental means changes to your budget, too, as you'll see during the session.

Renting a property brings with it not only financial and legal issues, but also greater responsibilities for looking after yourself in your temporary new home. Learning how to manage within a shared household is important. Otherwise, it might not only lead to financial problems but could also disrupt your studies or lead to problems in the relationships with the people you're sharing with. So this session is about what you should focus on when planning and then living in a shared rental. If you can keep on top of these issues, the greater the chance that living with your friends will be fun.

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From the age of 18 it’s likely that you’ll start living away from home for at least part of the year, either to study or to start a job in another part of the country. As a student, even if you spend your first year in student accommodation, you’ll probably move into rented accommodation with other students at some point. For your first job, even if it’s close enough for you to stay in the family home, as time moves on there’s a high chance you’ll want to move out, particularly if you’re in a long-term relationship. Although the timeline varies, and whatever the reason for your move away, there’s a high chance you’ll find yourself living in a shared rental with people of your own age. This means changes to your budget, and it’s these changes that you focus on here.

Learning how to manage your money in a shared household is important. Getting it wrong could mess up not just your finances but also your studies and your relationships with friends and housemates. Getting it right will give you experience and confidence that will benefit you throughout your life.

Most of the examples in this session are taken from the experience of a student who’s moving into shared property, but the crucial lessons concerning legal contracts and financial consequences apply equally to non-student rentals.

By the end of this session, you should be able to:

• make good decisions about choosing a rental property
• understand the financial costs of renting a property
• know what responsibilities you will have as a tenant
• understand how to deal with issues that might arise during the tenancy
• understand the impact living in a shared rental property has on your budget.