Tag: co-living

• Co-Living Contracts & Household Duties
• Co-living Etiquette
• Co-Living Getting Your Deposit Back

What you need to know before you move in!

1. Contracts for rooms are notoriously complex. The advert that you applied under forms part of a VERBAL contract in which you commit to 6  months rental under the terms indicated in the advert.
2. Monthly rent is ALWAYS 1 month in advance and this means paid on the day, not when it is convenient!!! Part of all rental income goes back to the household for repairs and improvements. Late payment disrupts workmen waiting to be paid for this and delays payment of bills such as electric, Wi-Fi. If you have problems – communicate!
3. Normal hours are decided by the household. QUIET times are usually between 10pm and 8am. Confirm with the household if you are unsure about this.
4. Read the links above as regards etiquette and getting your deposit back. It is mostly good manners and common sense.
5. CLARIFY anything you need to BEFORE you commit.
6. Cleaning is part of daily life – cleaning products will be provided but everyone is expected to do their share.
7. MANDATORY – NO EXCEPTIONS. There is a WhatsApp Group that enables communication and you MUST join when you provide your details such as valid photo id, full name, phone number etc.

Rented Room Accommodation – Shared Housing

• Co-Living Contracts & Household Duties
• Co-living Etiquette
• Co-Living Getting Your Deposit Back

House Rules

These are my rules but others are welcome to use or adapt them.

1. 6 month minimum let. Ask for extensions before month 6. Leaving before 6 months means NO DEPOSIT REFUNDED.
2. There is a 2 week trial period, extending to 4 weeks in case of doubt, to ensure you can fit in with the household. This is one way ONLY. It is YOUR responsibility to ensure this lifestyle works for you, not ours to fit in with your requirements. Ask what you need to BEFORE you pay your deposit and commit to 6 months!
3. Aggressive or disruptive behavior is totally unacceptable – communication is the first resort, with final decisions made by the household or landlord. Aggression of any description will not be tolerated and you will be asked to leave within 24 hours with NO DEPOSIT REFUNDED.
4. No Smoking indoors. Break this rule and you will be asked to leave within the week with NO DEPOSIT REFUNDED. Bringing drugs of any description into the house you will be asked to leave within 24 hours!
5. Theft of other tenants belonging, cash, credit card, phones, laptops etc. the police will be called and you will be ased to leave IMEDIATELY with NO DEPOSIT REFUNDED.
6. Stealing. If you use food or products belonging to others that is THEFT. You will be warned once then repeat offences asked to leave within the week with NO DEPOSIT REFUNDED.
7. Visitors: No visitors unless agreed by everyone in the house.
8. You must commit to a share of household duties and related expenses,
9. Use of the washer/tumble dryer: 2 washes a week are included in the rent. Additional use of the washing machine must be paid for at cost. At Granadilla there is plenty of room to hang out your washing. The tumble dryer is available at cost.  At Los Abrigos use of the tumble dryer twice a week is included. This is in fairness to others who do not want a rent increase due to rising electricity costs.
10. You must keep your room clean and tidy at all times and be prepared to arrange an inspection time if requested – this could be monthly. During the last 2 weeks of your tenancy, we reserve the right to show prospective tenants your room. In both cases this will take only a couple of minutes if nothing is untoward.

There is nothing more frustrating than when something that is obvious to you, appears to be bad manners (or an unfair shirking of house duties) is ignored or misunderstood, leaving you to clean up the mess and solve interpersonal disputes. Being old and sometimes grumpy I often wonder what my mother would think of some tenants manners.

However, times have changed and busy lives encourages us to be thoughtless sometimes.

Make Efforts to be part of the Household

In a shared house  are encouraged to make efforts to connect with each other. Any living arrangements work better when tenants try to interact and help one another. 

Keep your Room clean and tidy

It is the tenant’s responsibility to keep his or her room neat, tidy, and organised. Alternatively, once the weekly household chores are divvied up, one tenant may be paid to clean for another or pay a cleaner from outside to do it.

Communal Space

Do your part in keeping the communal space neat and clean by placing things back to where they belong and in the same condition. A simple gesture such as wiping down the dining table after use is common courtesy. Smoking in co-living premises is not allowed, except for the designated smoking outdoor areas.

Responsible Lifestyle

Leading a sustainable lifestyle is essential and even the smallest of unthinking actions can mount up. Switch off appliances, lights and fans when not in use.

Noise Levels

Common areas are designed for tenants to enjoy and interact with one another. Avoid screaming or blasting music in the common area, especially during the evening and at night.

Refrigerator Space

If you don’t want your food to be eaten by someone else, keep to your allocated space in the fridge. Clear stale food promptly and make sure everything is wrapped.

Laundry Times

Schedule your laundry day. Avoid disturbing people at antisocial times. Remove dried clothes promptly. No one likes to constantly see washing drying!

Communal Expenses

Many an argument started like the old Ben Elton sketch. ‘It was only a bit of shampoo’; ‘Yes but it was MY shampoo’. As soon as possible agree a kitty for  communal expenses and who responsibility it is to fetch them. This is part of the allocation of household duties.

Here are the principals I adhere to myself when renting a room, considered usual for most decent landlords. You cannot consider them in any way a ‘contract’ unless your landlord specifically states this. It’s simply booking a room for a given period of time (please don’t ask for a year, we cannot do it and it’s unlikely others will!). If you need an empadron check with your landlord before moving in.

On arrival, your booking is subject to a trial period of 2 weeks. If you are unable to get on with other people in the house, you will be asked to find elsewhere. Reasonable time is always allowed for this rare event, provided that the reasons are not extreme, for example theft or aggression.

Deposit

1 months rent is the usual  security deposit. If no damages are found when you leave, the deposit is refunded 1 week after your official leaving date. Invoices confirming your expected leaving date are available when you move in. If you need your deposit refunded on the day of leaving you must arrange to have your room inspected 1 week before leaving and again on the day the deposit is returned.

Official Leaving Date

An example is easiest:

You take the room for 2 months on the 1st Jan so your official leaving date is 1st Mar. Your deposit would be returned 8th Mar, all being well. Remember that unless you discuss this, someone may well arrive to take your room 1st Mar

Deposit Deductions

Please remember that timescales on deposit refunds 99 time out of a 100 can be sorted to suit both parties if discussed well in advance. Problems arise when someone thinks, wrongly, that they are due a certain amount and that’s not the case.

So read before you arrive and you can avoid any pitfalls. Clean, tidy and as it was, with the booking term completed, there will be no worries.

Again, these are my personal methods of ensuring no  misunderstandings and of course, your co-living situation may be different. That said, I hope it’s given you some pitfalls to avoid and ask any questions BEFORE you move in, not on the day you realise you need your deposit back!