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Shared House Bank Account?

OK, I move in with my 4 house mates in a couple of weeks and we think we need a joint account of some sort. BUT I have read some very negative things about this to do with credit ratings and house mates pinching money from it.

For starters we HAVE to pay our rent together from one account and feel that it would be best to have a joint account rather than paying in to one of our personal ones.

Also the thinking is that the bills will come from this joint account but each bill under and different name; internet, water, gas and electric. So that is shared so that if something goes wrong the bills aren't solely down to one person.

Is it a good idea? If not what can we do?

Reply 1

Reue

Firstly: you don't HAVE to pay your rent together. As long as it is paid on time and in full, that's all that matters.

Secondly: it can impact your credit rating and anyone named on the account could pinch the cash.

I would not do it!

Reply 2

Grant2007

Agreed with the reply...as long as you all pay on time individually there should be no problem.

For bills one person pays and the rest of the people transfer money over. Online banking is the way to go!

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Reply 3

cathyi

As a qualified accountant I can assure you that setting up a bank account with a group of "friends" is one of the worst ideas ever.

Money and blood doesnt mix so rest assured that money and friendship is even worse!

You guys need to figure another way to pay the bills

Reply 4

madjake

Actually my son is in the same position and the contract from the house which we are about to sign says as one of its conditions that the rent has to be paid from one account? So whats the answer. One person opens up a savings account on his/her normal account and gets everyone to pay into that? then get one of the other housemates to do the same for the bills? Everything you do is dependant on the integrity of the housemate. Its all risky. If anyone has any better solutions please let me know

Reply 5

username807367

For our shared house this year I'm the lead tenant. The landlord said we should open a joint account but we talked about it as a house and in the end I opened a new basic account with a different bank to my normal account and gave the others the details for it. They know they can ask me at any point to look at the online statement (to check I'm not stealing/that everything is being paid on time).

This is a much better idea than a shared bank account because apart from anything else, if everyone's name is on it there's nothing to stop one person taking some money out when they're short. This way you only have to trust one person to not be stealing rather than 4/5.

Reply 6

madjake

thanks for the reply, sounds like a plan. Can I ask what do you do about bills as I was thinking that it would be much better if everyone paid into something by direct debit every month, so that you're not hassling everyone for the money each month. like an on-line kitty? How do you do it?

Reply 7

username807367

Original post by madjake

I've asked everyone to put in an amount up front (as much as they can afford up to about £200) and kept track of who paid what in a spreadsheet. So what's in there should cover a few months worth of bills and when the bills money runs out, I'll ask everyone to top it up to the point where we've all put the same amount in. Then ask for more from everyone if we need it.

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Reply 8

emmahb

Original post by Reue

Firstly: you don't HAVE to pay your rent together. As long as it is paid on time and in full, that's all that matters.

As part of our contract we do HAVE to pay our rent together like madjake 's son has too.

Original post by hrbrox

Yes that does seem a good compromise, and I have set up an account separate from all of my other banking, I plan to have my other 3 house mates pay direct debits in to it so the they can't 'forget' and I plan to monitor the account at least once a week and have a paper bank statement sent to the house for all to see. But does that mean that all the bills have to be in my name because I think I'd rather that be shared?

Thank you everyone for your help, and if you have anymore solutions for this problem other than just saying don't do it I'd be very grateful :smile:

Reply 9

Reue

Original post by emmahb

As part of our contract we do HAVE to pay our rent together like madjake 's son has too.

Unenforceable. As long as the rent is paid in full and on time then this would not be grounds for eviction. Just because something is written into a tenancy contract does not make it legally enforceable in court.

Most landlords and lettings agencies will put in terms they know full well they would be unable to enforce purely because tenants don't know their rights.

Reply 10

Grant2007

Just phone and ask if each of you can set up a direct debit to pay on a set date monthly and request a reference such as the address for you all to use. It shouldn't be a problem.

Electricity, gas, internet etc get a different person to be responsible for a bill then everyone pays them by online transfer once the bill comes in, before they pay it. It works if you have chosen housemates you get on with.

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Reply 11

Grant2007

Be careful using a company as you end up paying more. Just sort it among yourselves. One pays internet each month and everyone pays them on the due date their portion. Same with electric. No other bills surely?

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Reply 12

bakedbean

Original post by Grant2007

But what about Internet, tv license and water? I looked into it before we signed up, they charge 7%, which I'm totally fine with after last year! I worked it out to cost about a pint a month. I'll happily pay anyone a pint to do the bills for our house! Haha plus it means they do all the chasing and not me if someone doesn't pay! For the sake of a pint a month, I'll choose the easy option thank you very much.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 13

Grant2007

As long as you know the up front costs that's fine. I have heard of some people who didn't realise the cost of using somebody else to sort it. We always sort it between ourselves and never had any hassle.

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Reply 14

Grant2007

Maybe my planet is more honest than yours!

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Reply 15

Jacooo0

Original post by bakedbean

Bakedbean, we signed in July and I referred two mates houses so I haven't paid for anything the last two month! The referral they give you basically works out to £50 a house and our bill from easybills is 48ish each a month so I've made £4 and not paid for bills lol. And I don't think there is a cap on it, trying to get some other mates to go with them! Haha

if anyone wants to sign up use my voucher code I think it gives all your house free sign up as well as a referral for me - EBJH1 :smile: