4 people/3 rooms. How much rent should each person be paying if 2 people share a room in a 3 bedroom apartment

Question

If you lived in a house/appartment that was to have 4 people living in 3 rooms (2 of the people being boyfriend and girlfriend), how do you divide up the rent? Do all 4 split the rent 4 ways? Or should the boyfriend/girlfriend split 1/3 of the rent and everyone pay 1/4 of the utilities? What is the norm?

Answer 1

my question would be the bathrooms. how many bathrooms are there in this apartment. if the couple have a bathroom for themselves that means they have the master bedroom, and the other two have to share one bathroom between them. i assume this because any three bedroom house of apartment has to have at least 1-1/2 baths or 2 baths. if the couple has any special benefit like having a 1/2 bath for their use and the other two do not have that; or if they have a bathroom for just the two of them and the other two also share one bathroom............ then the rent should be divided into 4.

if they get the larger room of the three (always is a larger room in any three bedroom apartment), then that justifies for the rent to be divided into 4. frankly, i would pay extra is i had my own bathroom in my room as it is a private bathroom and i do not have to go out into the hall to get to it. since they are a couple, they would be needing their privacy more and a bathroom in their room is a luxury...... ergo rent is divided into 4.

and that goes for all utilities, etc. etc. etc.

now, if they are the original occupants, and both of the other two are coming in, then out of respect for them, i would say only in this situation 1/3 rent and 1/4 everything else.

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

The utilities should be divided 4 ways. There is no truly fair way to divide up the rent. Divide it up 4 ways and the bf/gf will complain that they are paying 1/2 the rent but using 1/3 of the rooms. Divide it up 3 ways the bf/gf will be happy BUT the other people will complain that the bf/gf are getting a discount.
I would suggest discussing how to best divide up the rent with the other people in the apartment. Write up an agreement based on that discussion and have everyone sign it. Get it notarized and make copies for everyone. In the event of a disagreement in the future you'll have legal proof if one of your roommates should take you to court.

Answer 4

It's all up to how responsible these people are. I had a roommate situation like that and the couple just paid as if they were one person. And they still came up short on rent all the time and I had to cover them.

I also lived with another couple and we split it up so that the couple paid and extra $100 per month. But I guess it's all up to how much your rent is. The couple should definitely pay more because as two people they just take up more space, use more electricity, hot water, etc.

I don't think they should have to pay as though they are the same as the other roommates, because they have to share a bedroom (even though they want to).

Just my take and experience. There really is no norm, you all sit down and decide what is fair for you.

Answer 5

Well, what is included with your rent? Do you have to pay utilities separately? Do you each have individual groceries, or do you all share? I would say that rather than being concerned with how many are in a bedroom, that what matters more is that another person consumes additional utilities & food. I would think that you may make the couple pay just slightly more than the rest of you, but not as much as an equal 1/4 for each person.

Answer 6

Tough question. I'd say split the rent 1/3 since there are three bedrooms, but all utilities should be split 1/4 since everyone is equally sharing them. But really, everyone living there would have to agree on how to split it.

Answer 7

Rent should be split into 1/4's
* You MUST get the bf/gf to write up and sign a contract, stating that the total 1/4% of rent is "the specific responsibility of one or the other", because in the event there is a breakup, the other two renters usually end up getting "hosed". If you have a signed agreement, the one that takes the responsibility will be committed to continue payment of the 1/2% until you get a new renter @ 1/3% or he/she finds another friend.

Answer 8

Four people are each using 1/4 of utilities. Four people are each using 1/4 of the square footage and facilities of the common areas. Assuming each bedroom is roughly equivalent, each should rent for 1/3 of the cost of that square footage.

For example, assume that each bedroom is 100 square feet, the common areas total 700 square feet, and the total rent is $1,000 ($1/sq ft). Each bedroom costs $100/month and the common areas cost $700 per month. The couple pays $100 plus 1/2 of $700 for a total of $450, plus 1/2 of the utilities. The two single people each pay $100 per bedroom plus 1/4 of the common area rent, or $275, plus 1/4 of utilities.

Answer 9

4 people = rent split 4 ways--who cares if there's a "couple" or not, right? They are still "taking up space" equal to 4 people...what if the other 2 people said "we're a couple too now!"?
As a landlord, I'm thinking along the lines of wear and tear, usage of materials, etc. 3 people make less wear and tear than 4--get my drift?
And ditto for the utilities--4 peeps = 4 splits.

Answer 10

The rent would be split 3 ways and the utilities 4 ways unless you made different arrangements in the beginning. No matter what though the two sharing a room should not have to pay half of the rent.