Splitting Bills in a Shared House or Flat: Who Is Responsible for What

In a shared home, the person whose name is on a bill is the person the provider can chase for it, whatever the housemates agreed between themselves. So the most useful thing a shared household can do is decide, at the start, whose name goes on each bill, how the cost is split, and what happens when someone leaves.

Whose name is on each bill

• Energy, broadband and TV subscriptions. Usually one account holder. That person owes the provider the whole bill and collects the others' shares.
• Water. The company bills the occupiers. Some add every adult; many bill one person.
• Council tax. One bill for the home. Joint tenants or joint owners are usually each responsible for the whole amount, not just their share.
• Rent. On a joint tenancy, every tenant is usually responsible for the whole rent, so one housemate not paying can fall on the others.

Being the account holder has an upside: a bill in your name, paid on time, is proof of address and part of your credit history. It also means any late payment is recorded against you, not the housemate who was late paying you.

Council tax in a shared home

The bill is for the property, and discounts depend on who lives there. Full-time students are not counted, so a home where every adult is a full-time student is usually exempt, and a home with one working adult and several students may get the single person discount. In some shared homes where tenants rent rooms separately, the landlord pays the council tax instead. Check with the council how your home is treated.

Fair ways to split

• Equally. Simplest, and fine where rooms and use are similar.
• By room. A larger room or an en suite pays a larger share, usually matching how the rent is split.
• By use. Hard to measure for energy, but reasonable for something one person uses much more, such as a TV subscription.

Write down what was agreed, including the date each payment is due to the account holder. A short note in a shared chat is enough, and it settles arguments later.

When someone moves out

1. Take meter readings on the day they leave.
2. Tell the council, because the number of adults, and any discount, may change.
3. If the leaver was an account holder, move the account to someone staying before they go, or the bills stay in their name.
4. Settle their share up to their last day before they hand back keys.

How Wisemium helps

Start with the postcode of the shared home and Wisemium sets up the household: the council, the likely water company and the bills still to add. Each bill is kept with its cost, the account holder and its dates, so everyone can see what the home pays and when a contract ends.