House rules and splitting bills between flatmates: a simple way to avoid fights

By The JoinMyFlat team · Updated 23 October 2026 · 7 min read

Do it in the first week

The best time to agree on house rules is the first week, when everyone is polite and nobody has yet left the dishes in the sink. Once an annoyance has built up, any rule will feel like an accusation. Sit down together for half an hour, with tea if you like, and go through the points below. Then put the result in one message in the flatmates' group, and ask everyone to reply "agreed".

Splitting the rent

Equal split. Works when the rooms are much the same. Easy to remember.
By room. A bigger room, a private bathroom or an AC can justify a higher share.
By income. Rare, and only works when everyone is open about what they earn.
Whatever you choose, write the amount down. Each person's share, the due date and how it is paid.

Pay by bank transfer to one person or one account, so there is a record. Do not pay in cash. If you are not sure what a fair figure is, see the typical rent per person for your area in our rent guide.

Splitting bills

In Mumbai the usual shared costs are:

Electricity. The biggest variable. The bill is in the owner's name or one person's name.
Society maintenance. Sometimes included in the rent, sometimes not. Ask.
Water, gas and internet.
A cook, a cleaner or a maid, if you share one.
Groceries and supplies such as cleaning liquid and toilet paper.

For most flats, an equal split of the shared bills is the simplest and the least likely to cause arguments. The exception is electricity when one person uses an AC much more than the others. In that case, agree a base share for everyone and a higher share for the AC user, and agree it before the summer, not after the first big bill.

One person pays, the others transfer

Pick one person for each bill and rotate every few months. That person pays the company and posts the bill and the amount in the group. The others send their share the same week. A shared expenses app, such as Splitwise, can keep the tally, but a simple spreadsheet or the group chat works too.

The four house rules that matter most

Cleaning. Who cleans what, and how often. A weekly rotation works for most flats. Write down the shared spaces: kitchen, bathroom, living room, balcony.
Guests. How often, how many, and how late, and whether you give notice first. Be clear about overnight guests.
Noise and quiet hours. When people sleep, when music and calls stop, and what to do about work from home calls.
Shared things. Food, the fridge, the cooking gas, the washing machine. What is shared, and what is not.

Also agree these

Smoking and drinking. Allowed or not, and where.
Pets. If someone has one, or wants one.
Notice. How much notice a flatmate gives before leaving, and who finds the replacement.
Repairs. Who calls the owner when something breaks.
What happens in a disagreement. Talk to the person first, then the group, and only then the owner.

A simple template

Send this to your group, filled in:

Review it after a month

Sit down again after four weeks. What is working, what is not, what needs changing. A rule that nobody follows is worse than no rule, so change it.

Still looking for a flat to share? Browse flats in Mumbai and see who lives in each one.

Questions people ask

How should flatmates split rent?

The simplest way is equally, if the rooms are similar. If one room is bigger, has its own bathroom or an AC, it is fair for that person to pay more. Agree the numbers before anyone moves in.

How do you split the electricity bill?

In most flats it is split equally. If someone uses an AC all night and the others do not, a fair way is to split the bill into a base share and an extra amount for the person who uses the AC. Agree it before the summer.

Who should pay the bills to the company?

Pick one person to pay each bill and collect from the others by bank transfer or a shared expenses app. Rotate it every few months, so that the same person is not always chasing money.

What if a flatmate does not pay?

Remind them politely and in writing, with the amount and the date. If it keeps happening, talk to the whole flat, because the rest may be covering the missing amount. Remember that the owner's agreement may make everyone responsible for the rent.

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