How to Make Friends with Your New Flatmates!

I remember that before arriving at university, I was worried about how well I would get along with my flatmates! Do not worry if you are in this position as it is quite a common feeling. You may have seen all those horror stories on TikTok but remember that they are just that, horror stories. Most people have a much better experience than what you see online.

Personally, I had a really positive experience with my flatmates. While the first few days can be a bit awkward getting to know everyone, the truth is that everyone is in the same position - nervous but eager to make friends.
To help you settle in with your flatmates, here are some things I did to get to know my flatmates and make sure we all got along well.

1. Don’t Hide Away in Your Room
If you hide away in your room, then you will miss opportunities to get to know your flatmates! This also does not mean that you need to be sitting in the kitchen 24/7.

On move-in day, if you have finished unpacking, consider offering to help your flatmates carry their stuff in. I did this and it was a great icebreaker! It gives you a chance to get to know your flatmates while seeming approachable and helpful.

After you have moved in, I would often to go grab a glass of water when I heard people chatting in the kitchen. It gave me a reason to join in and be sociable, and even if I didn't actually drink the water, no one noticed!

2. Do Activities with Your Flatmates
It is important to do things with your flatmates to get to know them better. During Freshers week your mind may immediately go to clubbing as a thing to do together as a flat, but if that is not your thing, there are still plenty of other things that you can do! For example, my flatmates and I all went on a tour of campus together to help ourselves get familiar as well as doing our first few weekly food shops together.

3. Be Mindful of Shared Spaces
No one wants to that messy flatmate so be considerate of shared spaces. For example, if you have any dirty plates/bowls, maybe keep them in your room until you are free to wash them up.

4. Set Expectations
Setting expectations from the start can help prevent problems later. My flatmates and I decided which drawers and cupboards belonged to whom on the day we moved in, and this helped to avoid any confusion or accidental food mix-ups.

We also created a weekly chore chart to split chores (like hoovering and mopping) fairly! One of my favourite things about staying in Freemen’s Common Accommodation at the University of Leicester is that your bins are collected for you – this meant one less chore to sort out on the chore chart!

Overall, I had a really good experience with my flatmates – and I am sure you will too! If anyone else has any advice about dealing with flatmates, please comment it below and if you have any questions let me know too!

Claire
Law LLB Student

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 1

University of Salford Student Rep

Official Rep

Hi Everyone 😀

What great advice @UoL Students Claire!

I totally agree. I was concerned about moving up North to an area I didn't know, into a student house share with people I had never met when I began my degree, especially as I had never lived with housemates before. But it has all been okay so far..

I am a mature student and I was aware that my course would be quite busy, consequently I didn't want to have to wait to use the kitchen for too long in the evening to make dinner, therefore I purposefully chose a 3-bedroom house with a toilet separate from the shower room, in case we all had to be out of the door at similar times in the morning. I have lucked out with my housemates as they have always been lovely, respectful, and (to my relief) not into regular parties. (I love a party, just not cleaning up the following day.)

I found that helping out my roommates if they moved in after I did was a great ice breaker. My first set of housemates gave me a guided tour of Manchester as they knew it better than me and now I can return the favour for my new housemates who have moved to England to study, this has also been a great chance to get to know them better. Luckily because I have lived away from family for several years before university I was fairly aware of the boring but necessary things you might have to do when renting somewhere such as getting contents insurance and simple things like putting the bins out, but this meant I could help any new housemates unfamiliar with these kinds if things, which is a good way (if not that exciting) way to bond.

Setting basic ground rules and expectations clearly when everyone has moved in is great. Ours is "clean up after yourself", and we have a cleaning and household items shopping list chart so we can keep track of whose turn it is to buy washing-up liquid next, etc. Then, if you do run into any problems, having a calm chat is often the best way to resolve things, not in the heat of the moment when you're annoyed that someone has left loads of dirty dishes in the sink.

Last but not least, it is common sense, but treat each other how you'd like to be treated, whether it's keeping the volume down outside each other's rooms, or giving each other the benefit of the doubt, or making your housemate a cuppa after they've had a hard day.

Good luck to anyone moving out for the first time, and have fun!

Lucy 🙂
(Official Uni of Salford Student Rep)