Flatmates; Resolving Conflict

Meeting your flatmates can be one of the best parts of your University experience but living with new people can be challenging. To make sure you maintain positive relationships with your flatmates, here are Residence Life’s tips on how to get on with the people you live with.



Set Ground Rules

Agreeing on how to live with one another is a great way of pre-empting any issues that may arise. You will have a chance to write a ‘Community Living Agreement’ with your Residence Life Mentor: this is your chance to discuss noise, cleaning and rules about guests. This also sets a precedent for our second tip...



Communication

Communicating with flatmates is vital when it comes to maintaining a good relationship with flatmates. Be honest with flatmates and be open to hearing their point of view too. Small problems can become much bigger ones if they aren’t addressed, so don’t let things stew.

It’s also best to try and deal with problems face to face. Organising this can sometimes be tricky but it is the more mature way to approach things and, ultimately, less problematic; passive aggressive post-it notes and WhatsApp messages can easily be misconstrued.



Be Considerate of Others

A lot of the success in living together is down to taking personal responsibility and behaving respectfully towards the other members of your flat. Respect the rules you all came up with, work together to resolve any issues, and do your fair share of cleaning. Don’t take food without asking, be courteous of others, and be willing to learn and grow.



Have Fun!

When living with flatmates goes well, you can make friends that last a lifetime. Keep your sense of humour and use the opportunity to enjoy your freedom and learn more about yourself and others. Even if you realise that you are not due to be besties with some of your flatmates, using the tips above will help you to enjoy your experience of living together.

If you want help speaking with your flatmates about any issues, or just want some advice before you do, speak to a Residence Life Mentor or contact our Support and Wellbeing team via residentsupport@sheffield.ac.uk.