Moving into a shared house is one of the best parts of renting. It is cheaper, more sociable, and often the only way to afford a good area. But there is a financial risk hidden in most shared tenancy agreements that few renters know about until it goes wrong: if one of your flatmates stops paying their rent, you could be the one left to cover it.
This is not a rare worst-case scenario. It comes down to a single clause in most shared contracts, and it catches people out every year. The good news is that there is a simple way to protect yourself. This guide explains the risk and how Only My Share removes it.
The hidden risk in most shared tenancies: Joint and several liability
When you rent a house with others, you usually all sign one tenancy agreement together. Most of these agreements are "joint and several," and that phrase is where the risk lives.
Joint and several liability means each tenant is responsible not only for their own rent, but for the entire property's rent. Legally, you are each on the hook for the whole amount. So if one housemate loses their job, moves out early, or simply refuses to pay, the landlord does not have to chase only them. They can pursue any of the remaining tenants for the shortfall, and they will usually go to whoever is most likely to pay.
The numbers add up quickly. Take a house of three friends each paying £500 a month. That is £1,500 a month for the property, or £18,000 across a year. Under a joint and several agreement, if one person stops paying, the other two are liable for the missing share, and in the worst case any single tenant can be held responsible for the full £18,000. Our guide to joint and several liability explains how it works in more detail.
It is not only you who is exposed. If you have a guarantor, a parent, perhaps, they guarantee your tenancy, and under a joint and several agreement that can mean the whole tenancy, not just your share. So a flatmate's missed rent can land on your guarantor too. This is one of the biggest reasons family members hesitate to act as guarantors for a house share.
Why this catches people out
The difficulty is that joint and several liability feels invisible until something goes wrong. When you move in with friends, nobody expects a housemate to stop paying. But circumstances change. People drop out of courses, lose jobs, fall out, or move away, and a group that felt completely reliable in September can look very different by spring.
The risk is even higher when you are flat sharing with people you do not know well. Many renters fill an empty room with someone found online, or move into an established house as the newcomer. You are then financially tied to people whose reliability you have no way of judging, and if one of them fails to pay, the contract makes their problem your problem.
How Only My Share protects you
Only My Share is designed for exactly this situation. It is a simple safety net that guarantees you are only ever responsible for your own share of the rent, whatever your housemates do.
If someone you live with falls behind, Only My Share covers the rent they owe, so the shortfall never lands on you or your guarantor. You keep paying your share, as you always would, and the rest is dealt with. It removes the single biggest financial risk of shared living, and it does so for a fixed, predictable cost.
Here is how it works:
- Sign up in minutes. All we need is the property address and your landlord's details.
- Pay £16 a month. A simple, fixed monthly payment guarantees you are responsible only for your share of the rent.
- Claim easily if you need to. If a housemate lets you down, you follow a straightforward three-step claims process, and Only My Share deals with the rest.
Only My Share is a regulated product, provided by Guarantor Insurance Ltd, a Housing Hand company, so the protection behind it is real and properly backed.
Who Only My Share is for
It suits anyone moving into a shared home, but it is especially worth having if you recognise your situation below:
- Renting with friends. Money is the fastest way to damage a friendship. Knowing a missed payment will not fall on you means you can share a home without the awkwardness of chasing each other for rent.
- Renting with people you have just met. If you are joining a house of strangers, or filling a spare room with someone you found online, protecting yourself is simple common sense.
- Protecting your guarantor. Only My Share protects both tenant and guarantor. If a parent or family member is standing behind your tenancy, it keeps a flatmate's debt away from them, and it can make finding a guarantor easier in the first place.
Share your home, not your flatmate's debt
Shared living should be about splitting the rent and enjoying the company, not lying awake wondering whether a housemate will pay their share this month. Joint and several liability is a genuine risk, but it is an easy one to remove.
With Only My Share, you pay your part and nothing more, whatever happens around you. It is peace of mind for the price of a couple of coffees a month, and it lets you move into a shared house, with friends or strangers, knowing your finances are your own.
Protect your share with Only My Share →
We make renting in the UK simpler
Housing Hand is the UK's leading rent guarantor service, trusted by over 100,000 tenants and partnered with more than 4,000 accommodation providers across the UK. We do not run credit checks. Every guarantor customer also gets free 24/7 access to GP and wellbeing support.
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