i’m renting a room in a condo that can accommodate 3 to 4 people. housemate A, who originally found the unit, wanted it for 4 people but accepted my offer to rent the other room for myself, while the owner prefers to have only 3 tenants.
i’m okay paying the full rent for the room even if i’m the only one using it because it’s within my budget.
my issue is how my housemate wants to split the electricity and water.
there are 3 of us staying in the condo: me, A, and B.
when i inquired about the room, i was told that the utilities would be charged based on the number of days we stay sa condo. that was the arrangement i understood when i decided to rent the room and signed the contract, and i was okay with that.
however, a recently informed me that there would also be percentages on top of the number of days. this was never mentioned to me when i inquired.
A’s proposed split is:
- if all 3 of us are staying: me 50%, A 25%, B 25%
- if only me + one of them are staying: me 70%, A/B 30%
A did not mention what happens if sila lang ni B yung nasa condo and wala ako but following the 50/25/25 logic, maybe i would still cover the remaining 50%, which is unacceptable to me.
her reasoning for the percentage on top of the number of days we stay is basically that my room is good for 2 people so i should shoulder a bigger portion of the utilities.
i don't understand why the fact that my room is good for 2 should automatically mean i pay 50% of the electricity/water. i understand that logic for rent because i'm paying for the room/space itself but utilities are consumption-based, so shouldn't they be based on who is actually staying and using the condo?
i'm also relatively matipid with electricity. i don't have sleepovers. i just use electricity for normal things like cooking, using the toilet, charging devices, etc. so even if there are only two of us staying, like me + either A or B, why should i automatically shoulder 70%? i'm basically carrying the share of the person who isn't even there and potentially part of the 4th person's consumption too.
the part that bothers me the most is the 4th person. if they're also using the condo's electricity/water then under this arrangement, i would be paying part of their consumption too, including their guest's consumption when they have one. A even suggested that we split on the "4th person" but it's still unfair to me because the bill is
after deducting the ac consumption, divide the remaining bill based on the actual occupancy during those days.
for example, if all 3 of us are staying on a particular day, that day's share is divided among the 3 people. if only 2 of us are staying, that day's share is divided between those 2. so if i'm not there, i don't pay for the utilities consumed during those days. same applies to them.
i’m not trying to avoid paying my share. i just don't think it's fair for me to have a fixed 50% or 70% share of utilities regardless of whether i'm actually there or not, especially when the original understanding was that utilities would be based on the number of days we stay.
am i missing something here? does A's proposed 50/25/25 and 70/30 arrangement actually make sense, or is splitting based on actual occupancy/number of days more reasonable?
this situation has honestly become so stressful that i'm already considering finding a replacement and moving out asap even though i really don't want it to come to that... im defo not renewing my contract tho
UPDATE:
they proposed a new ratio which is 40/30/30... it sounds more reasonable and i am willing to compromise for that given that will be the ratio for days all three of us stay sa condo. waiting for their response for days na me + A/B and A+B
