Whose name goes on the bills in a house share?

• ✓Shelter says the person whose name is on a bill is usually responsible for it, and that if more than one person's name is on the bill, everyone named is responsible.
• ✓Citizens Advice says that if someone will not pay their share of an energy bill, you will usually have to pay the whole bill and try to get the money back from them afterwards.
• ✓A private agreement to split a bill three ways sets what housemates owe one another. It does not limit what the supplier can ask the named customer to pay.
• ✓If you rent, Citizens Advice suggests checking whether your landlord has given your name to the energy supplier. If you are unsure whose name is on the account, check the bill or ask the supplier.

Sources: Shelter: joint tenancies (read 13 October 2026); Citizens Advice: check if you're responsible for paying an energy bill (read 13 October 2026)

• ✓Shelter says joint tenants are all responsible for the whole rent, even if they pay different amounts. A tenancy agreement may call this joint and several liability.
• ✓If one joint tenant stops paying, Shelter says the landlord can ask the others to pay more. In its example, the two remaining tenants are asked for the full rent.
• ✓Bills sit on a different contract. Shelter says housemates can agree between themselves how to split the bills, and that the person whose name is on a bill is usually responsible for it.
• ✓Shelter also says joint tenants cannot force each other to leave, so plan for settling a money dispute rather than for removing the housemate.

Sources: Shelter: joint tenancies (read 13 October 2026)

• ✓Energy: give each fuel to a different housemate, or ask the supplier whether it will put two names on one account and what each named person is then responsible for.
• ✓Water: some companies put several names on one account. Yorkshire Water, for example, says it can, and that everyone living in a student house is responsible for the bill when water is not included in the rent.
• ✓Broadband: whoever signs the contract holds it for the minimum term, so match the term to the tenancy and agree in writing who pays any exit fee.
• ✓TV Licence: GOV.UK says one licence covers a home on a joint tenancy agreement. With separate tenancy agreements, anyone who watches TV in their own room needs their own.
• ✓Council tax: GOV.UK says you will usually pay if you are 18 or over, and that spouses and partners who live together are jointly responsible. Shelter says the landlord usually pays in a house in multiple occupation (HMO).

Sources: Yorkshire Water: student water bills (example company) (read 13 October 2026); GOV.UK: TV Licence (read 13 October 2026); GOV.UK: who has to pay Council Tax (read 13 October 2026); Shelter: joint tenancies (read 13 October 2026)

• ✓Ask each supplier what it needs to add, remove or replace a named customer, whether it will open a new account instead, and confirm the change in writing.
• ✓Citizens Advice says to give your energy supplier at least 48 hours' notice when you move out, and to read your meters on the day you leave.
• ✓It says the old supplier will send a final bill within 6 weeks, you then have 28 days to pay, and any credit must be refunded within 10 working days of the final bill.
• ✓Shelter says that if a joint tenancy is not ended, someone who moves out is still a joint tenant, and the landlord can still ask them for unpaid rent.
• ✓Changing who pays in a bill-splitting app does not change the supply contract. Only the supplier can do that.

Sources: Citizens Advice: moving home and your energy supply (read 13 October 2026); Shelter: moving in or out of a joint tenancy (read 13 October 2026)

• ✓The written split: which bill, which rule, who pays and by when.
• ✓Dated meter photos showing the serial number, taken on move-in day, on move-out day and whenever the people in the house change.
• ✓Every bill, and every payment between housemates, with its date.
• ✓Supplier letters and emails confirming account changes, with their reference numbers.
• ✓A running total of what is owed. GOV.UK says a court fee is based on the amount claimed plus any interest.

Sources: GOV.UK: court fees for a money claim (read 13 October 2026)

• ✓England: Shelter says joint tenants are all responsible for the whole rent. It also says fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies signed before 1 May 2026 are now rolling periodic tenancies, and tenants usually give 2 months' notice to leave.
• ✓Wales: the Welsh Government says contract-holders can be added to or removed from a joint contract without ending it for everyone. Adding someone needs the landlord's consent, which cannot be unreasonably withheld.
• ✓Scotland: Shelter Scotland says everyone in a joint tenancy is equally responsible for all of the rent, and in a private tenancy one joint tenant cannot give notice alone.
• ✓Northern Ireland: nidirect says your landlord must give you a free Tenancy Information Notice within 28 days of the tenancy starting. A small claim there is generally one worth no more than £5,000, decided by the County Court.
• ✓GOV.UK confirms that Scotland and Northern Ireland each have a different process for a court claim from the one in England and Wales.

Sources: Shelter: Renters' Rights Act changes for private tenants (read 13 October 2026); Welsh Government: renting homes questions for landlords (read 13 October 2026); Shelter Scotland: your rights in a joint tenancy (read 13 October 2026); nidirect: private rent and tenancies (read 13 October 2026); nidirect: small claims process (read 13 October 2026); GOV.UK: make a court claim for money (read 13 October 2026)