Flat Sharing in London | My experience

Flat sharing!
Where shall I start really? This could be a heavy post and I don’t know what I am getting myself into, but let’s do this!

I have many years of experience of flat / house share in London (now thank God I own a house with my husband!!). I’ve seen it all, from the bad, the ugly and the good. How many years are we talking about? Roughly about 15 years, but from those 15 years I will remove about 5 years from living with my best friend Betsy in a 2‑bed flat and then with my boyfriend (now husband). So roughly we are talking about 10 years living with random strangers.

I can assure you those 10 years of sharing a flat / house with a bunch of random people is not exactly like an episode of Friends where we all meet up at Central Perk after work, have a latte, laugh about Phoebe’s Smelly Cat song and hug each other. No, it’s not always like this unfortunately.

  

If you never lived in a big city such as London, let me tell you that unless you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, the minimum that a very small studio (to rent) will ask you to pay a month is about £1200 (excluding utility bills + council tax). You can easily spend 3/4 of your average salary just on renting + bills + food + tax. And trust me, that does not leave you with a lot to save for that mortgage deposit.

So of course the flat / house share is what most Londoners will have to go through at some point in their Londoner life.
In those 10 years of flat share I probably lived with approximately 25+ people.
Out of those 25 or so flat / house share people, I’ve seen it all. And I think it is a good idea to point out what type of flatmates you are unfortunately likely going to meet at some point — or if you’re lucky (I really do hope for you), not at all.

I would also like to point out that all the below are true stories from my own experiences. You might be shocked by some of the details, and if anything similar was to happen to you, please seek landlord / agency help if at any point you feel threatened mentally or physically by any of your flatmates.

The Privileged / Bully
The snob will remind you that you do not live in her country (I am French) and so your English needs improving (yes, I do know my English is not perfect, but at least I am trying my very best), when her second language is “snobbing”. The snob will remind you that she has more money than you and will be able to buy that £2000 Mac laptop while you are still paying back your £300 second‑hand laptop. The snob will also leave her flatmates, when she goes back to Uni, in debt of £400 after not paying her share of utilities and tax. But don’t worry, her posh mummy will call you on her behalf to clear her debt while reminding you that really £400 is not a lot of money and she does not understand the emergency (er… which world is she living in?).

The Dirty One
The dirty one will leave his dirty dishes for days (my worst culprit was 2 full weeks!!!!) by the side of the kitchen sink or worse, inside the sink. The dirty person will not always clean herself nor the flat, and will hope that her yellow and brown‑stained underwear left on her bedroom floor in piles of a dozen will magically disappear when visitors come in the hope of renting her bedroom (as she is about to leave to go back to Uni). Not mentioning the mattress she slept on for about 4 months with no mattress cover, and you hope that the “potential” new flatmate visiting the premises won’t notice the sweaty brown stain on the mattress.

The Crazy One
The crazy one will throw stuff at you, including a kitchen chair, plates etc., followed by insults. Then that same crazy one will lock him/herself in their bedroom, speak to themselves with a baby voice, then burst out screaming while carrying on insulting you and throwing objects at all the walls surrounding them for NO reason.

The Noisy One
The one that does not seem to understand that walking heavily, banging doors, slamming cupboard doors, talking loudly on the phone is already annoying during the day, but it is even more annoying when it’s 3 am, in the middle of the week, and you have to get up at 5.30 am to go to work.

The One That Steals
They will steal your food, steal your belongings (because unfortunately not all bedrooms in flat or house shares have door locks), and you know it’s them but you cannot prove it.
You end up keeping your non‑perishable food in your bedroom. And you also find yourself locking all your belongings of value in suitcases with padlocks because your DVD collection and the few Euro notes you had left from a previous trip to France seem to shrink mysteriously.

The One That Thinks They Are the Landlord
That person who refuses to let you use the bathroom / kitchen / toilet at any time when she is in because it clashes with her way of living. That same person who will refuse anyone to watch TV, listen to music, cook, breathe, talk or do whatever you do at any point when she is inside the premises. That same person who will decide when or how you are to pay your share of rent / bills when it is more convenient for her.

The One That Does Not Want to Save the Planet
That person who will insist on throwing cans, jars, cartons, paper etc. in the general bin even though we have a specific and clearly marked recycling bin right next to the general waste bin. The one that leaves the heating on all day even though no one is in the house. The one that leaves all the lights on every hour of the day and night even when no one is up, or worse, when no one is even in the house. That same person who will leave the electric hob on all day along with the oven, and you are just thankful she hasn’t burned down the house on your way back from work.

The One You Never See
That one is not so bad after all. That mysterious person pays her share of rent, bills etc. but is nowhere to be seen. The only way of communication, to make sure this person is alive, is contacting them by email or text messages.

The Racist
The one that would remind me personally that my country sucks at whatever we do (sport, politics, culture etc.) and because my English hasn’t improved much in the past 3 months, perhaps I should think about going back home.

The Student That Only Has the Name and Just Wants to Party
That one student that never sets foot in his Uni but instead loves recreating the KoKo nightclub every single night in the downstairs lounge with his 3 best mates (from the same Uni), while his other flatmates are trying to sleep because they all have to make a living the next day and pay back their student loan.

The Old Pervert Landlord
The landlord that forgot to mention that his little dodgy rental business office is in the same house where you’ll also be living. He will happily mention that he has spare keys for each bedroom and he’ll do random checks when you are out working (most likely going through your underwear and bras). The pervert landlord that only wants female tenants “because they are cleaner than boys” (clearly he hasn’t met some of my ex‑flatmates!) but most likely wants to join in the evening to see what we are all up to while his wife, Debra, 65 years old, is in bed sleeping already. That same pervert that will ask your age, your sexual orientation and if you are single or not on the day you come visiting the available bedroom. Run!!!

All the above are unfortunately people that I personally met once and sometimes even more than once, but don’t feel like sharing is hell, because I can assure you too that along the way you’ll meet amazing people. In my experience I met many great people with whom I had lots of banter, but I also met 2 of my best friends.
Ben, who used to be one of my early flatmates. We became almost inseparable from day one and 12 years later we are still best friends even though he now lives on the other side of the globe (but we do see each other whenever we can).
There is also my Betsy Boo, whom I met about 10 years ago. At the time I was living in a 3‑bedroom flat and me and my other flatmate were looking for a 3rd flatmate, and this is how I met Betsy.

Betsy will be my bridesmaid at my upcoming wedding and is the one that dried my tears after I met countless jackass after jackass, made me laugh, made me feel special and appreciated my nerdy side (by the way she is a bigger nerd than I am but she won’t admit it!).
All in all, flat sharing is not always all rainbow, butterflies, smiles and cute bears. It can be great as it can be difficult at times too. My only advice to you is: don’t feel like you have to stay in a place if you feel uncomfortable with the people you are living with. Do move around (even though I know it’s easier said than done).
Be that person that is kind, respectful of other people’s space and needs. Don’t be that idiot that never helps cleaning or thinks putting loud music on at 2 am on a weekday is acceptable. Give people space but be there if you are planning a flatmate party or if someone is down and needs someone to talk to. Be the one that people will remember as a great person, not that twat that left without paying bills or never lifted a finger. Be that person you would love to share a flat with.

Have you experienced flat sharing in London (or any other cities)? 

Tell me all by commenting below.