Problems in shared housing
Rent in a shared house
In a shared house, you might have either:
a joint tenancy for the whole house
separate agreements where you just rent a room
If you're a joint tenant
Try to talk with the person who is not paying their share.
In a joint tenancy, everyone on the tenancy agreement is responsible for the whole rent.
If one person does not pay, your landlord can ask the other joint tenants to pay the missing rent.
You might have to pay your housemate’s share of the rent and then ask them to pay you back.
Your landlord could try to evict all of you for any unpaid rent.
More on rent in a joint tenancy.
Example: Joint responsibility for rent
Sam, Ben and Lucy are joint tenants in a shared house.
The rent is £1200 a month. They each pay the landlord £400.
A few months into the tenancy, Ben moves out and stops paying his share of the rent.
The landlord can now ask Sam and Lucy to pay the full rent of £1200.
They decide to split it between them and pay £600 each to avoid rent arrears.
If only your name is on your agreement
You're only responsible for your share of the rent.
Your landlord cannot ask you to pay someone else's share.
Example: Rent when you have separate agreements
Bren lives in a shared house where people rent their rooms separately. Each person has a tenancy agreement for their room with only their name on it.
Joe is one of Bren's housemates. Joe has not paid rent for 6 months. The landlord gives Joe an eviction notice.
Bren does not have to worry. Her tenancy is separate from Joe's. The landlord cannot evict everyone just because Joe has not paid rent.
Last updated: 11 March 2026
