When it comes to sharing a flat, getting along is not that easy, nor is learning to live together so difficult. With some good rules of coexistence, everything will go smoothly. The social contract
You don't have to be a fan of Rousseau to know that any association between individuals needs a series of rules of coexistence to be peaceful and prosperous. Because, even if our companions are more Hobbes-like and act like wolves, or more Locke-like and only think of themselves, the contract we make among all of us will bind us and provide guarantees for good coexistence. A contract among companions is made by listening to everyone if we start living in a new flat at the same time. But if we rent a room in a flat that is already shared by others, before signing anything, we should ask them to specify the house rules; just in case they don't meet our needs or don't have any rules (in which case we can already deduce that coexistence will be chaotic). When we are going to create some rules of coexistence from scratch, we must all meet beforehand and talk about our schedules, our habits, how permissive we are with disorder, etc. Reaching agreements will make everyone comply with the rules, and if someone doesn't, it will also be easier to admonish them with a series of arguments that were captured in the form of norms during that initial meeting (yes, we have to write the rules so that no one can say "I said this, not that"). And what are the basic rules for living in a shared flat? Take note:
1. Cleaning and order of common areas
The house must be cleaned at least once a week. The more people there are in the flat, the more we will dirty it, and an unhealthy environment will not help us concentrate on studying to get our
eTítulo on time. It should be clarified that one thing is disorder and another is dirtiness, and although we can be somewhat more tolerant with the former, it inevitably leads to the latter because no one can clean with everything in the way. If it has already been established that the house will be cleaned once a week, now we have to make schedules so that the shifts rotate. This way, one week it will be our turn to clean the living room and the next week it will be someone else's turn. The fairest thing is to rotate so that no one always ends up with the tasks that no one wants to do.
2. Respect for study time
If we have come together to live together during college and we are all students, this has to be said, but we will all understand it. The exam periods of each person, important assignments, and other academic activities that require concentration cannot coexist with visits to the house, parties in the living room, loud music, etc. Tranquility and concentration must prevail when it is time to study, whether the dates coincide or not. There will be time for parties when everyone is free.
3. Monthly payments
It is not only the rent, there are also utilities, internet, common expenses such as toilet paper or aluminum foil, and anything else we have contracted. The easiest thing is to calculate the total expenses and create a
joint account to directly debit all the payments from there.
4. Damages
Things break, and when it is the tenants' fault, they have to take responsibility. When setting the rules of coexistence, it is good to consider possible contingencies and make it clear that the responsible person or persons will pay for any damages that occur, because if someone breaks something and then leaves the flat without fixing it, those who are in the house once the lease is terminated will have to bear the expense, which is not fair at all.
5. Schedules
Some have classes at 9 in the morning and others at 9 at night, and setting rules of coexistence is important so that we can be in the house without disturbing each other's sleep or meal times. Each person has to explain at what time they will shower or eat so that everyone can adapt their schedules. This issue is often overlooked at the beginning of coexistence because we are well-intentioned and believe that with a little dialogue and common sense, everything will go well, but after a few months, we will have had enough conflicts: someone makes us late because they spend three hours in the shower, someone else puts the TV on full volume until dawn, etc. The clearer and more organized everything is, the fewer conflicts we will have, and the better the coexistence will be.
6. Food
Does each person buy their own food or do we do the shopping together? It is best for each roommate to have their own space in the fridge and cabinets to avoid abuses, but what about salt, oil, spices, flour...? Creating some initial rules of coexistence serves to reach agreements and avoid any conflicts that could have been easily avoided.
7. Meetings and parties
When we want to have a party at home, we have to talk to the other roommates and also establish some basic rules. We have to discuss the volume of the music, the end time, how we will pay the fine if a neighbor calls the police, if we will ask for permission in our community, how the expenses will be divided, what to do with guests who do not respect certain minimums, etc.
8. Dealings with the landlords
Landlords are usually not charming and do not want to negotiate with the five tenants of the flat they rent, which is why appointing a representative to be the "negotiator" is convenient for everyone, except for the representative, who will have a quite significant burden on their shoulders. That's why it is fair to create an incentive for that position. For example, if the rest of the roommates contribute 3 euros per month each and there are four more people, the suffering representative will receive 12 euros per month for their work, or even better, 144 euros per year. That way, they will be more motivated, and it won't be an excessive expense for the rest. Establishing rules for coexistence may seem strict when we are going to live among friends, but if we want them to remain friends and for everything to go well, the more things we talk about, the better. And if over time we see that any of the rules of coexistence we have established are not useful, we just have to change or eliminate them. It's as simple as that.
