Whether you’re moving into halls with a bunch of people you don’t know yet, or you’re living with your uni besties, the rules of sharing a flat or house are the same. Navigating awkward situations with these people is gonna happen so, here’s ten ways you can be the best flatmate you can be.

1. Communicate...people can’t read minds

It might be obvious to you that dirty dishes shouldn’t lay about in the sink for 2 days after you’ve used them, but for some, it’s no big deal- they’ll just do them when they have time. If you communicate about these things early on you can avoid a lot of headaches. For example, simply saying ‘I really like the kitchen to be clean, can we all try our best to clean dishes after we’re done with them’ might stop you from harbouring resentment, which leads us on to the next point...

2. Don’t turn to passive aggression

From the well-known passive aggressive notes we see all over the internet, to a sassy whatsapp message, we’ve all been there. But all these passive aggressive actions do is rub our flatmates up the wrong way.

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3. Give each other space

You get on with your housemate? Great! That doesn’t mean you should spend 24 hours a day together. Everyone needs some ‘me time’, including you, so knocking on their door at every opportunity might be a friendly gesture but could get annoying after a while.

4. Be aware of your own annoying habits

If you’re known for being a bit neurotic or you’re too laid back, a bit of self-awareness about the things that might get on your flatmates nerves could help you get along better. If your flatmate seems irritable after you’ve been talking about laying in bed watching Netflix all day, while they’ve been doing chores around the flat, picking up on this might save you an awkward exchange.

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5. Learn to compromise

People live differently, and that’s definitely something you’ll learn at uni. Just because you’re used to doing something a certain way, it doesn’t mean it’s the only, or right, way to do it.

6. Give fair warning for things like parties

This one is pretty self- explanatory. If you’re having people over and you know you’re going to be loud and it’ll probably go on late, the decent thing to do is to let the other people in your house know.

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7. Know how thin the walls are

If you can hear the guy two rooms down snoring at night, chances are your neighbour can hear you sharing ahem intimate moments with your uni bae. Being aware of these things can save you from an uncomfortable bang on the wall.

8. Don’t steal food

You’ve just come back from a night out and you’re STARVING. The only problem is, you’ve run out of drunk food and your flatmate has some frozen pizza you’ve been eyeing up. You’re flatmate is not going to be too impressed when they go looking for said pizza when they’re hungry themselves. If you do need to eat it, make sure you replace it.

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9. Respect things that are important to your flatmates

It’s all well and good you communicating how you’d like things to be done, but you need to respect the things they’ve communicated to you too! No point them cleaning their dishes when you never change the toilet roll!

10. Have fun with each other

Organise flat nights, where you can do whatever you enjoy doing together, whether it’s having a games night, watching movies, cooking together or just lounging about. It’s so much better when you get on with your flatmates so make an effort!

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