The six most annoying things about living with flatmates
Not everyone enjoys the experience of shared living
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Living in a flat or house share can be a positive experience. You meet new people and sometimes they might even cook you dinner after a long day at work.
But not everyone enjoys the experience of shared living – they just can’t afford anything else.
A recent study found that the number of single people aged 25 to 34 living in shared accommodation in London has risen by 28 per cent over the last decade, while graduates are forced to move back in with their parents.
With that in mind, the app Chored, designed to help people in houseshares, surveyed over 1,000 people to find out what the biggest pet peeves were for people living in a flat or house share.
The top six were:
1) Bills
A third of Britons reportedly fall out with their housemates every month because of issues with bill payments. Only 9 per cent of those surveyed admitted to always paying their bills on time, while 41 per cent said they had to chase their housemates for payments.
2) Chores
80 per cent of those surveyed said cleaning disputes, even down to someone leaving the bath plug in, were irritating.
3) Noise
Flat mates staggering in at 3am on a Tuesday night, loud noises from the bedroom next door, and that one person who always turns their music up full blast. 35 per cent of people named noise disturbances as a pet peeve.
4) Household expenses
Everyone uses toilet paper, right? And washing up liquid? Yet somehow one person in the house seems to be out, or busy, whenever the time comes to restock on all those essential items.
5) Eating someone else’s food without permission
Possibly the worst of all household crimes: 37 per cent found this to be an infuriating act. And it’s a real struggle not to do the passive aggressive action of writing your name on every single item of your food in the house.
6) Irritating partners
22 per cent of those surveyed found that if they disliked their flat mate’s girlfriend or boyfriend, it made the experience of shared accommodation a lot worse.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments