New House Sharing Templates for Residential Tenants

When tenants are moving into a house share or flat share, they will need to decide how to split the payment of rent and outgoings between them. The tenancy agreement will usually make all tenants jointly and individually liable for payment of the rent and other costs. But the tenants may decide amongst themselves that some should pay more and others less.

There may also be other occupiers, not named in the tenancy agreement, who will be living at the property. The landlord will not be able to demand rent from such occupiers but the other tenants may wish to have a written agreement recording how much the occupier is to contribute towards the rent and bills.

Our new House Sharing Agreements are suitable for all kinds of house sharing arrangements, including student houses. They cover:

• Ownership of any contents that do not belong to the landlord
• How expenditure is to be split between tenants and occupiers
• What happens if an occupier moves out
• Who pays for repairs when the property or its contents are damaged.

By using these templates, residential tenants and occupiers can make decisions about managing finances at an early stage and avoid problems arising during the tenancy. Landlords and lettings agents may wish to share these templates with tenants to encourage them to sort out their financial arrangements before entering into a tenancy.