Sharing a House Fairly

A ManjeProp student house is several leases under one roof, plus a kitchen that belongs to all of you and none of you. Fairness is not a feeling. It is house rules, named occupancy, dated faults, and a geyser that cannot serve five forty-minute showers at 06:50.

This is for people already living together. It is not a constitution and it is not a personality workshop.

Start from the paper, not from the weekend

Each occupant has a lease that says who may live in their room, how guests work, and who pays which utility. Read yours. Do not invent a right to a second person because the couch is free. Do not invent a right to silence at 16:00 during soccer.

If a rule is unclear — bins, smoking, exam quiet — ask the house contact in writing before the fight.

Common areas are a duty, not a vibe

Refuse, passages and the kitchen have a separate note in this set. The short version: bins out, passages clear enough to leave in a fire, dishes that are yours, a stove you do not walk away from. A blocked sink is a ticket. A sink full of plates is you.

If someone never takes a bag out, that is occupancy and rules, with dates. It is not Emergency plumbing.

Faults belong to the building

A lock, a leak, a dead extractor, a gate that slams — those are Report a fault, with a unit name and photos. They are not bargaining chips. Do not refuse to send a ticket because “it’s their bathroom.” Shared bathrooms fail in public.

Do not use a fake leak to punish a housemate. We will still send a plumber. We will also notice.

If you caused damage, say so on the ticket. The outgoing inspection will not be kinder than you are.

Noise, guests, extra beds

Quiet hours exist because neighbours and exams exist. Hardware that makes noise is a ticket. Conduct is a conversation, then a written note to the house contact. If you are unsafe, leave and phone SAPS. Then phone +27 60 313 6961.

A guest who gets a drawer and a remote is occupancy. That is how deposits and keys go missing. It is also how overlap warnings on the desk become fiction.

Money in a shared house

Rent is each invoice, paid to the business, marked paid from the bank. Do not collect housemates’ rent in your personal account “to make it easier.” Do not pay a student who is “taking over” a room.

If the house splits a municipal amount, the method should be in the lease or in a written house note. Meter photos — first and second — beat a rumour about who showered.

A fault form cannot reverse an EFT or decide a deposit.

Fairness when something breaks at night

Emergency is danger or major damage now. A dripping tap is a morning ticket. Do not wake a house for a light bulb. Do wake a house if you smell gas or the ceiling is coming down. Tell the next room if you evacuate.

One well-named ticket is fairer than five panic messages with no unit.

Staff will not parent you

We will fix fittings, change a cylinder, log a repair, and talk occupancy when the paper is being ignored. We will not draw a chore roster every Sunday. We will not evict from a blog post. Letters that threaten legal consequences need review.

We will notice a listing that still says available while three unofficial people sleep in a room. Vacancy is a walk.

Food, fridges and the quiet theft of space

A named shelf is not a legal right, but it is how five people avoid a fight. Do not eat unmarked food and call it communal. Do not switch a house fridge off because your leftovers lost. A warm house fridge is a ticket if the appliance failed. It is a conversation if someone pulled the plug.

If you have a dietary need, say it to housemates like an adult. The fault form cannot reserve a shelf.

If you are choosing a house

Walk it. Meet whoever is home. Ask how faults are reported. The answer should be the public form and the site phone. Put leftover questions on the enquiry form.

Ask how many people the kitchen actually carries at 07:00. A fair house is one whose fittings and whose paper match the number of adults.

Fairness in a shared house is mostly: keep the rules you already have, send the real faults, and do not add silent occupants. The rest is ordinary adult manners.

Report a fault · +27 60 313 6961 · 10111 if people are in danger.