The reality of living communally - away from everything you’ve ever known - can be tough. That coursemate who is always reliable for a study session? Actually really noisy and disruptive to live with. That friend you thought you’d never fall out with? Never washes their dishes or helps keep the kitchen tidy. That person who seemed like loads of fun? Keeps inviting strangers into your living space without asking. What can you do?

Read our top five tips below to take the right steps towards harmonious living with happy housemates!

1. Be considerate.

This seems like common sense, right? Most student homes of multiple occupancy (HMO’s) are going to see two or more people, who may all have very different values and standards, having to share domestic spaces such as bathrooms and kitchens 24/7. The simple reality of this? You’re never all going to be happy all of the time! You can stop this from becoming too big of a problem by making a constant effort to practise give and take. Talk - always! Suggest or ask rather than challenging, ordering or letting little things build up to one big frustration. Listen, too. If you have some friends round and your housemate asks you to be a bit quieter because they are trying to sleep before their 8am shift tomorrow? Consider their reasoning and respect it. If you want to have a partner or some friends from home round to stay over on a regular basis, check that this is OK with the others that you live with. Always keep in mind that if a guest that you have invited in damages anything in the house, the responsibility, and resulting trouble you may be in with your landlord (including paying for the damage), is all on you.

2. Make time for each other.

Try to build up an honest and positive relationship with your housemates from the start. Make an effort to spend time with them during your first weekend together. You could do something nice like cook together (find loads of inspiration over at The Big SU Cookbook), or have a games or movie night in. Anything that allows you to get to know each other and help set positive boundaries moving forward. If you enjoy this, maybe try and make time to do a similar fun activity once a month or so. If this sort of thing doesn’t work for your household, that’s OK too. But giving yourselves regular chances to check-in with each other, whatever form they may take, will help you maintain understanding which will hopefully lead to more peaceful living.

3. Share out those chores.

Sink overflowing with dirty dishes you swear aren’t yours? Quibbles over household chores can be one of the most common reasons for fallout when sharing a living space. Lets face it, hoovering the floor or cleaning the bathroom are not things a lot of people would choose to do. But in the absence of the magic cleaning fairy they are things that need to be done in order to ensure you’re living in a happy, healthy home. Why not turn to technology to help ensure everyone is sharing the responsibility?

Apps such as Our Home provide an easy way to assign and keep track of chores. Get everyone in the house involved by downloading the app and creating their own accounts. The calendar view can then be synced across all members, making it easy for you all to see chores and any household events that may be added. You can create and categorize chores and delegate them to different housemates. Setting chores to repeat weekly or monthly ensures you will never forget to take the trash out again! You can even set rotations so that housemate A takes the bin out one week and housemate B takes it out the next in order to ensure the load is being shared fairly. There is fun to be had with a rewards/incentives feature – just make sure it stays fun and doesn’t become something new to argue about! And the very best bit? Apps like Our Home help make your life easier for free - no ads to watch or subscriptions required!

4. Be mindful of money.

Keeping control of household costs can be really overwhelming, especially if you’re living independently for the first time. Finance focused apps such as Splitwise can help housemates to choose how to pay different bills, and to keep track of who is paying and when. The app can be synced across all members in a household, providing a way to visibly share expenses between housemates. Bill records can be backed up online and can be split equally or shared by percentage (for example, if one person uses more heating because they work/study from home all day, they could pay a higher percentage of the heating bill). Never again be late with a rent payment thanks to push notifications and the ability to set deadlines - making it easier for you to budget month to month. You can even set up multiple payers for a single expense – a great feature for that household Friday night takeout!

Splitwise is free to download, or you have the option to go premium for £2.79 a month for extra luxuries such as no ads and the ability to scan receipts and convert currency. You can achieve splitting chores, keeping track of costs and spending some quality time together as a household all in one by doing food shopping and cooking together. Shopping list features on apps such as Our Home and Listonic make it easy for you to create and reuse shopping lists, easily access product pricelists and set a shopping budget to keep track of how much you're spending. Be smart! Even if you can’t all share meals all of the time, it makes sense cost-wise to share the basics like milk and bread, instead of having six or seven individual loaves or pints.

5. Don’t despair!

Even if you try your best and follow all the advice above, there's no getting away from the fact that sometimes, people just don’t get along. This can be distressing if you are forced to live together, especially if you weren’t in control of who you ended up sharing a house with in the first place. If you are struggling, it’s important to remember that this won’t be forever. Coping strategies such as plenty of self care and spending time with your friends can help see you through. Negative experiences can sometimes act as good life lessons, helping you work out the type of people you are most likely to be able to live happily with so you can retake control of your situation in the future.

Your Advice Service have recently launched a brand new Housing Forum to make it easier for students to safely find future housemates or a new room. Always remember: if you are wanting to leave your contract early, make sure you check to see if there is a clause that allows you to do this and consider any consequences there might be. Your Advice Service are here to help if you’re ever unsure. Otherwise, check out the housing forum here – may it help you see hope on the horizon.