Living in a shared house with a messy roommate who always leaves their dishes in the sink can quickly get frustrating, and resentment can start to build up. If you’re wondering how to get your housemates to clean, we’ve got the solution – create a house cleaning rota!
Creating a cleaning rota with weekly and monthly chores assigned to different housemates is the best way to ensure your shared or student house doesn’t descend into chaos. Break weekly cleaning tasks into smaller, more manageable ones so that people aren’t freaked out by the thought of cleaning the entire house from top to bottom.
The first step will be deciding what chores need to be done and how often. Get together and have a chat – you might have different ideas about what’s considered ‘clean’, so it’s essential everyone’s on the same page to avoid arguments later on.
You’ll need to determine which chores will be communal and which will be individual responsibilities. For example, you might decide that everyone is responsible for cleaning their own room (and their ensuite if they’re lucky enough to have one), doing their own laundry, and washing their own dishes, pots and pans. However, cleaning communal areas like the kitchen, living room, and shared bathrooms will need to be put into the cleaning rota.
Although your shared house might include a hoover and maybe a broom, you’ll likely have to purchase cleaning products yourselves. Letting someone else buy all the cleaning supplies might be tempting, but it’s best to spread the cost. One option is to create a communal fund which everyone pays into each month to buy cleaning products and other shared items, like toilet rolls and laundry detergent.
Once you have a list of chores that will need to be done, it’s time to work out how to split them up. You might divide them up by room and create a rotating rota, where a different housemate is responsible for a different room each week. This ensures the entire house gets cleaned weekly, and it should only take an hour or less per person. Plus, no one is saddled with a time-consuming or gross task (like cleaning the toilet) every single week!
However, if one of your housemates enjoys vacuuming while another is happy to handle the bathroom, you might assign particular chores to specific housemates. This kind of rota makes it a little easier to keep track of who’s supposed to be doing what, and you can always change it if it starts to feel unfair.
Whatever rota you create, make sure there are clear deadlines on when a chore needs to be done and a bullet point list of what’s involved. For example, cleaning the living room might involve vacuuming, wiping the tables and shelves, tidying up the sofas and clearing away any items that don’t belong there.
Here are some examples of weekly and monthly chores you might want to consider adding to your cleaning rota.
From creating (and following) a cleaning schedule to ensuring everyone pays their share of the bills on time, house sharing isn’t always easy…
Although we can’t help with keeping your house clean and tidy, we can help simplify your shared household bills and give you one less thing to worry about. Split The Bills is a bill-splitting service trusted by thousands of students and young professionals.
We’ll set up all the utility accounts for your house and then split the cost between everyone you live with. There’s no need to worry about chasing up late payments or trying to work out who owes whom – you just need to make one neat payment each month.
You can fully customise your bills package to include gas, electricity, water, broadband and even a TV licence if you plan on watching live TV. Plus, we offer uncapped gas and electricity plans, so you have the freedom to use what you need!
Get a monthly price for your shared household bills today with our hassle-free service.
The move from first to second year at university often comes with a lot of change as most students will have to start paying bills for the first time. In this feature we discuss how you can keep your finances organised and pay bills responsibly.
The move from first to second year at university often comes with a lot of change as most students will have to start paying bills for the first time. In this feature we discuss how you can keep your finances organised and pay bills responsibly.
The move from first to second year at university often comes with a lot of change as most students will have to start paying bills for the first time. In this feature we discuss how you can keep your finances organised and pay bills responsibly.