Messy flatmates

Bumpity bump


Posted from TSR Mobile

Put all their dirty rubbish in/outside their room or outside/on the roof. Worked for my flat in first year.

I've got a bit of a flatmate problem. We're living with Unite, there 7 of us in total, 2 people knew each other before living here and the rest were strangers.

Since we first moved in, the kitchen was always being left messy. At first some of us just tidied it up because we didn't want to live in filth, even though it wasn't our mess. But gradually people got sick of doing that and stopped. Now it's just building up. We had a fly infestation before Christmas it was that bad. I can't even use the kitchen anymore and therefore can't cook any meals.

I went home for Christmas and came back 3 weeks later and it's awful. There's loads of open bags of rubbish everywhere, one of which I'm sure was there when I left. The fridge is filthy, there's mouldy chicken that was definitely there since before Christmas, there's other rotten/mouldy food in there and a carton of milk that went out of date on the 18th of December. It stinks

I'm fairly sure it's mainly due to one person as the rest of us went home over Christmas and had not been using the kitchen in the weeks before that anyway (due to the flies and general minging mess). We've tried to get them to do something but they won't, and we can't force them to clean!

We tried contacting the Unite staff and they said they'd come and talk to him and make him do something about it but they haven't. I'm at my wits end, what can I do?

TL;DR: certain flatmate has made kitchen a health hazard, won't clean up. What do I do?


Posted from TSR Mobile

Don't know if that'll work, he left a binbag of rubbish outside his room before Xmas and I thought he'd just forgotten it was there, but it's still there now I've gotten back so I doubt any more would bother him. Plus he uses everyone else's plates and cutlery so it would be affecting others in the flat too.


Posted from TSR Mobile

Don't know if that'll work, he left a binbag of rubbish outside his room before Xmas and I thought he'd just forgotten it was there, but it's still there now I've gotten back so I doubt any more would bother him. Plus he uses everyone else's plates and cutlery so it would be affecting others in the flat too.


Posted from TSR Mobile

If it's gotten to the point of a health hazard- hold a house meeting. (Passive-aggressive actions just end in arguments, and you don't want an argument since you're in the right here)

Tell everyone to start labelling their own food and buy some dish tubs, put your names on them and put your dirty dishes in your own tub. That way you can easily tell whos dirty dishes are who's and who the food belongs to. That's a start. Have your own sections of the fridge, and keep YOUR section clean. This eventually will show who the culprit is, unless they don't want to get caught out so will start cleaning too. If they don't start cleaning and once you know who it is and have EVIDENCE (such as names on food), you have to ask them if they'll try and keep it clean, since it's making everyone else upset. If they say no, then you have a problem and probably need to contact someone higher up, especially since they're actually causing hazards.

Another thing you could try is a cleaning rota. Some people find it difficult to stay clean. One of them could be cleaning out the fridge, which could happen every week/fortnight? And other things such as taking out the rubbish, sweeping floor etc. That way they chip in as much as everyone else and it stays clean.

Maybe try keeping what you can in your rooms? If its just rubbish from his room in the binbag he's probably not too fussed but when people open their door to a pile of mouldy washing up and food waste they tend to do something about it.

Although maybe try the whole cleaning rota idea first, we already had one but she left so much gross washing up that shed bring out her room that we stopped doing her stuff.