Three’s a Crowd…
Anyone who has shared a flat with another person, has come across this problem. Their flatmate starts dating, falls in love and begins a long-term relationship. You notice the odd night stayover. You come down for breakfast and the new love of your flatmates life is cheerfully sat at the kitchen table slurping their way through your cereal and milk.
You let it go. It’s not a regular thing. And, after all, finding the best places to live in London takes hard work. You have to compromise. What if the shoe was on the other foot?
Besides, the relationship isn’t going to last. Your flatmate doesn’t exactly have the best track record in dating….
But then love seems to be blossoming and more often than not said partner is staying overnight four times a week making the flat seem a little overcrowded. You begin to feel like an unwanted guest in your own home while your flatmate and partner seem to be working through their own version of happy families, arranging stay-in romantic dinners and movie nights without any regards for how you feel about the situation. No one likes to feel like a third-wheeler in their own home 😡.
What to do?
Option 1: Put up with it
Most of us will try to cope with the situation, probably in the hope that our flatmate and their partner will have a terrible row and it will all end in tears. Failing that, you may like to consider whether the partner should be contributing to the rent and household expenses if they are going to be around so often.
Option 2: Set Some Boundaries
It’s always good to set some guidelines if you are living with someone and, if the partner seems to have moved in, it’s even more important to set some clear boundary lines. The last thing you want to do is cause bad feelings or set yourself up as the villain of the piece. Unless you address the elephant in the room, however, it’s unlikely that things are going to work out in your favour.
Typical boundaries could be that the partner is only allowed to stay over certain days a week or that your flatmate should spend some time at their flat or home to even things up and give you a bit of peace and quiet.
Option 3: Get Your Own Partner
You could, of course, head straight out onto the town or sign up to a dating agency and find your own partner. That way you could even things up and at least have someone to talk to while your flatmate is playing Love Island in the next room.
Option 4: Find Somewhere New
The other option is to start looking around for somewhere new to stay. If you’re living in London, that’s often easier said than done as we all know. Not only do you have to fight for flats and houses in the city and surrounding areas but you want to find a suitable person or persons you’ll be happy sharing with.
The good news is that technology is here to help you out and downloading an app like CityFlatmate gives you the option to find likeminded individuals in your local area who you can set up a new home with. You can match interests and locations and get to know people and make new friends.
Of course, if you hang on long enough, you might find that your London flatmate and their partner decide to run off towards the sunset together. In that case, you’ll still need to find a new friend to share your flat and the app can help with that too!
