STUDENT GUIDE
THE ULTIMATE SURVIVAL GUIDE
FOR COPING WITH FLATMATES
HOW TO TELL SOMEONE YOU
DON’T WANT TO LIVE WITH THEM
You’ve moved in with complete strangers
and now you have to live with them for an
entire year. Here’s how to cope (without
having a breakdown!)
STUDENT GUIDE
Nightmare housemates are a student
rite of passage. University wouldn’t
be university without being able to sit
in the Students’ Union and wax lyrical
about how your flatmate is driving you
crazy; from not washing up to staying
holed up in their room, we have all been
there. But that doesn’t mean it has to
stay that way. Cosmo Columnist Tiffany
Wright (who has had her fair share of
nightmare-inducing flatmates) offers her
advice on how to have the conversations
you don’t want to have, with the people
living under your roof.
The dilemma: When you first moved in
you all lived in harmony. Three weeks
later, you are at each other’s throats –
from stressing over whose turn it is to
wash up to hammering on each other’s
bedroom doors whilst screaming; “turn
your music down, I’ve got a hangover!”
In short, you feel a HUGE
confrontation brewing.
What you want to say: “When I signed
this tenancy agreement, I didn’t realise
I would be living under a roof with
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www.accommodationforstudents.com
characters from the Inbetweeners. I’m a
student…GET ME OUT OF HERE!”
What to actually do: Try to keep your
conversations over any problems that
do arise solution-focused rather than
grumbling, bitching and telling one
another off. Whilst people can’t change
what they have already done, chances
are they might listen to you and try to
change their ways if you confront them in
a non-aggressive way.
The dilemma: Your flatmate hasn’t paid
their shares of the bills and when you
confront them they claim they are broke.
The problem is, the bills need to be paid
regardless. Eek – what do you do?
What you want to say: “OK, so you
bought us a round at the Union last
night and a new top for your hot date last
week, but the Bills HAVE to be paid. All
of us are broke…and we still manage to
do it. When will you grow up and realise
you have responsibilities?”
What to actually do: Gather the troops
(aka your other flatmates and the
one who isn’t paying) and find out the
reasons why they’re unable to make the
payment. Then try and help them find a
solution: Perhaps their parents can lend