The Student Room Group

Massive argument with flatmates, advice as so angry I want to hurt someone or thing.

Basic back story, I have been living here 2 or so months, started well but 2 people moved in who liked to have heating on full blast a lot which made me feel ill and worse since bills are in my name.

Another person moved in and sided with me, well up until tonight anyway.

I am moving next week so ordered a bill a few weeks early, and I spoke to the highest user and was polite and said that it will be a high bill and to keep quite a lot of cash aside, he replied that he has been here only about 9 weeks so it wont be!

I also mentioned that I still need this months internet (its 4 weeks late) and as I said this the girl I normally get on with came out of her room and shouted at me since a tv licensing letter arrived today stating that there is no license at the house and we are breaking law, she was screaming saying that I have my tv in the living room so they would all get fined because of my stupidity, I said to her that there is no way they could fine us because I have no digibox and there is no longer analog signals and she told me she contacted Tv Licensing and they said I need a licensing to own equipment that can recieve tv, she then goes on and says that EVERYONE pays a license and we will be the only house on the entire street without one, and all students buy one etc(WTF!) and that unless I move my tv upstairs tonight she will call them on me and get me fined! I said to her that its impossible to move the tv as its about 50kg, and the guy talks and says it wont be hard if he helps so whats the problem putting it in my room, I said again no point especially since a friend of mine is moving it for me with his car in morning to new place, and they both went on about why couldnt my friend come tonight!

By this point I had enough as I was shaking and said I was going out as I am fed up of the way I am treated in the house, bills all in my name, internet 4 weeks in arrears(at which point girl said I never told her at any point in last 4 weeks it was due!) and the guy says why do I want to go out, cant I handle an adult conversation etc.

I can go on more, but will leave it a few posts!

Please give me advice as landlord isnt answering phone, nor is my best friend and I have a pain in my chest and dizzy and I feel like smashing stuff up.

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Reply 1

What do you expect your landlord to do? He isn't responsible for arguments between you and your friends.

Reply 2

Nick_000
What do you expect your landlord to do? He isn't responsible for arguments between you and your friends.


Just be polite and explain that I dont need one, not even that to explain that they are being quite rude in their actions and not thinking about me or something.

Otherwise it will be a tense situation.

Reply 3

EarlHickey
Just be polite and explain that I dont need one, not even that to explain that they are being quite rude in their actions and not thinking about me or something.

Otherwise it will be a tense situation.


Again, not his place or problem.

Reply 4

Just chill out. How will you cope with the real world?

Reply 5

It doesn't matter since you're moving next week anyway

Reply 6

Antimatter
Just chill out. How will you cope with the real world?


Uh I am 26 and have lived in the real world for years, this creates a massive situation as I have 2 people quite agressive in their actions towards me making demands and one blocked the door to stairs so I couldnt go to my room, other blocked the door to kitchen which has a back exit and were having conversations between the two of them saying stuff like "see I told you earlier he would say that" which means they already planned what to say.

Reply 7

EarlHickey
Basic back story, I have been living here 2 or so months, started well but 2 people moved in who liked to have heating on full blast a lot which made me feel ill and worse since bills are in my name.

Another person moved in and sided with me, well up until tonight anyway.

I am moving next week so ordered a bill a few weeks early, and I spoke to the highest user and was polite and said that it will be a high bill and to keep quite a lot of cash aside, he replied that he has been here only about 9 weeks so it wont be!

I also mentioned that I still need this months internet (its 4 weeks late) and as I said this the girl I normally get on with came out of her room and shouted at me since a tv licensing letter arrived today stating that there is no license at the house and we are breaking law, she was screaming saying that I have my tv in the living room so they would all get fined because of my stupidity, I said to her that there is no way they could fine us because I have no digibox and there is no longer analog signals and she told me she contacted Tv Licensing and they said I need a licensing to own equipment that can recieve tv, she then goes on and says that EVERYONE pays a license and we will be the only house on the entire street without one, and all students buy one etc(WTF!) and that unless I move my tv upstairs tonight she will call them on me and get me fined! I said to her that its impossible to move the tv as its about 50kg, and the guy talks and says it wont be hard if he helps so whats the problem putting it in my room, I said again no point especially since a friend of mine is moving it for me with his car in morning to new place, and they both went on about why couldnt my friend come tonight!

By this point I had enough as I was shaking and said I was going out as I am fed up of the way I am treated in the house, bills all in my name, internet 4 weeks in arrears(at which point girl said I never told her at any point in last 4 weeks it was due!) and the guy says why do I want to go out, cant I handle an adult conversation etc.

I can go on more, but will leave it a few posts!

Please give me advice as landlord isnt answering phone, nor is my best friend and I have a pain in my chest and dizzy and I feel like smashing stuff up.


It isnt your landlords problem, if he is nice he may give you some advice, but generally..its not his problem.
You have to solve this out yourself...you seem to be saying that you're always getting ill..are you actually getting ill?..Or is that a response when something isnt going your way?
Anyways, just calm down and then go to then and talk to them again...

Reply 8

You're right about the television, you don't need a licence unless you're watching live television on it.

About the heating. Any chance you could just sneak up to the thermostat and turn it down when no one's looking? Have a word with them and just tell them to stick on a jumper or light the fire (if your house/flat is old enough) instead.

As you're moving in a week, I'd say it probably doesn't matter all that much but you know, just try talking to them when you're feeling a bit less angry.

Reply 9

EarlHickey
Basic back story, I have been living here 2 or so months, started well but 2 people moved in who liked to have heating on full blast a lot which made me feel ill and worse since bills are in my name.

Another person moved in and sided with me, well up until tonight anyway.

I am moving next week so ordered a bill a few weeks early, and I spoke to the highest user and was polite and said that it will be a high bill and to keep quite a lot of cash aside, he replied that he has been here only about 9 weeks so it wont be!

I also mentioned that I still need this months internet (its 4 weeks late) and as I said this the girl I normally get on with came out of her room and shouted at me since a tv licensing letter arrived today stating that there is no license at the house and we are breaking law, she was screaming saying that I have my tv in the living room so they would all get fined because of my stupidity, I said to her that there is no way they could fine us because I have no digibox and there is no longer analog signals and she told me she contacted Tv Licensing and they said I need a licensing to own equipment that can recieve tv, she then goes on and says that EVERYONE pays a license and we will be the only house on the entire street without one, and all students buy one etc(WTF!) and that unless I move my tv upstairs tonight she will call them on me and get me fined! I said to her that its impossible to move the tv as its about 50kg, and the guy talks and says it wont be hard if he helps so whats the problem putting it in my room, I said again no point especially since a friend of mine is moving it for me with his car in morning to new place, and they both went on about why couldnt my friend come tonight!

By this point I had enough as I was shaking and said I was going out as I am fed up of the way I am treated in the house, bills all in my name, internet 4 weeks in arrears(at which point girl said I never told her at any point in last 4 weeks it was due!) and the guy says why do I want to go out, cant I handle an adult conversation etc.

I can go on more, but will leave it a few posts!

Please give me advice as landlord isnt answering phone, nor is my best friend and I have a pain in my chest and dizzy and I feel like smashing stuff up.



That's what she said... :o:

Reply 10

Nick_000
Again, not his place or problem.


Well it is and it isnt, its in their best interests to keep tenants friendly with each other otherwise causes problems later down the line.

They could easily ignore the situation and let us get on with it but that is more destructive as then we will be angry with each other a lot more and the situation may get worse and it likely will at this rate.

When I get home I will change password on internet, if they get arsey about not having it then I will say its my internet and they havent paid this month, that was another thing the girl said "oh I only owe you £5 its not a lot of cash" but it is! especially as my loan hasnt arrived yet.

Reply 11

jakemittle
It isnt your landlords problem, if he is nice he may give you some advice, but generally..its not his problem.
You have to solve this out yourself...you seem to be saying that you're always getting ill..are you actually getting ill?..Or is that a response when something isnt going your way?
Anyways, just calm down and then go to then and talk to them again...


Well I say ill, as I get a really sore throat and cant sleep and feel groggy etc and have dry eyes etc.

Which only occur when I am in the house, when I am at uni or friends I dont feel this way.

Reply 12

just get out and enjoy imagining what will happen to them when you're not around to look after them.


btw, you do not need a tv license to own a tv...its only if you use it. lots of people just have one to watch dvds on and they dont need to pay the bloody bbc for that.

Reply 13

I hope this doesnt make me sound bad, but the girls entire argument goes on the fact that I do own a digibox that I dont use nor is tuned in currently, I used it twice for about an hour to check a programme I needed for uni.

One thing I find funny though is she watches Iplayer and 4OD often which have questionable legalities and then goes on at me about using a tv, she also says she knows the law better than me despite her being 18 and just left home and her mum paying for her license(which confuses me to why we are even getting letters if there are no room numbers and she owns one) also she says I ignored previous notices as this is a final notice so I must of binned the old ones.

And when I told her that I am 26 and have lived away from home for years so I know how the law works about this by now she goes "oh is that laws made up by your 50 year old hairy male friends!"

Reply 14

EarlHickey
I hope this doesnt make me sound bad, but the girls entire argument goes on the fact that I do own a digibox that I dont use nor is tuned in currently, I used it twice for about an hour to check a programme I needed for uni.

One thing I find funny though is she watches Iplayer and 4OD often which have questionable legalities and then goes on at me about using a tv, she also says she knows the law better than me despite her being 18 and just left home and her mum paying for her license(which confuses me to why we are even getting letters if there are no room numbers and she owns one) also she says I ignored previous notices as this is a final notice so I must of binned the old ones.

And when I told her that I am 26 and have lived away from home for years so I know how the law works about this by now she goes "oh is that laws made up by your 50 year old hairy male friends!"


A TV license is not needed to watch iPlayer or 4OD since they are not currently being broadcast.
Also, her parents license does not cover her since it isd only valid for one property, so it is entirely possible she does know the law better than you.

However, you are right in saying you don't need one if the TV isn't currently tuned in.

Reply 15

You need to de-escalate the situation or it (or you) will get worse.
Don't change the password on the internet. That's just childish / not like you gain anything good from it.

Don't do anything tonight. You don't HAVE to act rightaway.
Tomorrow, after you moved the tv, go for a run or to the gym for a workout. Afterwards have a nice lunch with friends. Then go window shopping. Then go home. If your flatmates act weird, ignore them.

Now about the bills: split the bills equally, but break it down by week. So your flatmate who was there nine weeks, pays an equal share for those nine weeks. That seems fair enough to me. It's a shared house. You simply can't break it down into "oh but he turned on the heating" - that sort of thing never will be fair, because you don't know how much was due to additional heating and so on. Anyway it would be stupid and only make you more enemies.

Reply 16

parpirate
A TV license is not needed to watch iPlayer or 4OD since they are not currently being broadcast.
Also, her parents license does not cover her since it isd only valid for one property, so it is entirely possible she does know the law better than you.

However, you are right in saying you don't need one if the TV isn't currently tuned in.


Confused over that, I thought yes that Iplayer etc was legal without license but know in the past they have made a bit of a fuss over it so though it is legal they normally tell you it isnt that was what I meant by I wasnt sure.

They did both however say I am always watching tv which isnt true since I use the tv as a monitor so watch dvd films or tv shows on it.

Reply 17

llys
You need to de-escalate the situation or it (or you) will get worse.
Don't change the password on the internet. That's just childish / not like you gain anything good from it.

Don't do anything tonight. You don't HAVE to act rightaway.
Tomorrow, after you moved the tv, go for a run or to the gym for a workout. Afterwards have a nice lunch with friends. Then go window shopping. Then go home. If your flatmates act weird, ignore them.

Now about the bills: split the bills equally, but break it down by week. So your flatmate who was there nine weeks, pays an equal share for those nine weeks. That seems fair enough to me. It's a shared house. You simply can't break it down into "oh but he turned on the heating" - that sort of thing never will be fair, because you don't know how much was due to additional heating and so on. Anyway it would be stupid and only make you more enemies.


That was what I was going to do anyway, not the fairest way but the simplest since I moved in first but didnt live in the property for 3 weeks and during that time 2 others moved in so I used zero electric(unless you count standing charges and fridge)

The reason why I was thinking of changing password is not because of the situtation, thats just a catalyst its that they havent bothered paying for it and if say I didnt pay the company it would get turned off of if the landlord owned it they would disconnect whoever didnt pay(had this in previous properties)

Reply 18

lol about a tv being 50kg.

Reply 19

EarlHickey
I hope this doesnt make me sound bad, but the girls entire argument goes on the fact that I do own a digibox that I dont use nor is tuned in currently, I used it twice for about an hour to check a programme I needed for uni.

One thing I find funny though is she watches Iplayer and 4OD often which have questionable legalities and then goes on at me about using a tv, she also says she knows the law better than me despite her being 18 and just left home and her mum paying for her license(which confuses me to why we are even getting letters if there are no room numbers and she owns one) also she says I ignored previous notices as this is a final notice so I must of binned the old ones.

And when I told her that I am 26 and have lived away from home for years so I know how the law works about this by now she goes "oh is that laws made up by your 50 year old hairy male friends!"

Omg, you're 26. You should know how to protect yourself, don't call the landlord its not his problem, deal with it yourself, I know they're ignorant and hard to deal with but you should just give them a big talk, maybe include visual evidence of some sort?