Rent is the biggest shared bill most people ever split, and it comes round every month, so getting the method right once saves twelve arguments a year. There are three fair ways to do it. Which one you pick depends on how different the rooms and the incomes are.
Method 1: equal split
Everyone pays the same. It is the right choice when the rooms are similar and nobody feels hard done by. It is also the simplest to run: one number, every month.
Example: rent ₹36,000, three flatmates → ₹12,000 each.
Where it goes wrong: one room is clearly bigger, has an attached bathroom or a balcony, and the person in it pays the same as the person in the box room. Resentment builds quietly. If anyone has raised this even once, move to method 2.
Method 2: split by room
Price each room, then share the common areas equally. The cleanest way is to agree a premium for the better room rather than measuring square feet.
- Agree what the best room is worth extra. A common range is 10–25% of an equal share.
- Add the premium to that person's share and take it off the others equally.
Example: rent ₹36,000, three rooms. Equal share is ₹12,000. The master bedroom gets a ₹3,000 premium. Master pays ₹15,000; the other two pay ₹10,500 each. Total still ₹36,000.
Write the agreed shares down somewhere everyone can see them. When someone moves out, the new person inherits the room's price, not the old flatmate's.
Method 3: split by income
Used mostly by couples and by friends with very different salaries. Each person pays the same percentage of their income rather than the same amount.
Example: rent ₹30,000. A earns ₹60,000 a month, B earns ₹40,000. Combined income ₹1,00,000, so A pays 60% (₹18,000) and B pays 40% (₹12,000).
It is the fairest in money terms and the most awkward socially, because it needs everyone's salary on the table. Only use it where that conversation is already comfortable.
Bills and the deposit
- Electricity, internet, gas, cleaning: split equally unless usage is wildly different (one person runs an AC all night). Don't try to meter it; agree a flat adjustment if it matters.
- Deposit: split in the same proportion as rent, and record who paid what. The landlord will return one lump sum to one person; this record is how it gets shared back.
- Someone away for a month: rent is still due in full. Most groups don't discount; some discount utilities. Decide the rule before it happens.
Running it month to month
The person who pays the landlord fronts the rent, then collects. That is exactly the "one person paid, everyone owes a share" shape Ezysplit is built for: create a split called "Flat – October", add the rent as one expense paid by the payer, add each bill as it arrives, and the settlement panel shows who transfers what. For a room premium, enter the rent as two expenses: the equal part for everyone, and the premium as a separate bill with only the master-bedroom person included (exclude the others).
The one rule that matters
Decide the method before anyone moves in and write it in the group chat. Changing the method later always feels like someone is being accused of something. Setting it up front feels like admin.
More guides
- Trip expense checklist: splitting travel costs without drama
- How to split a restaurant bill (even when someone didn't drink)
- Who pays whom: settling a group with the fewest transfers
- Splitting costs when there's a couple in the group
- Planning a group trip budget everyone can live with
- How to ask a friend to pay you back (without making it weird)
- Splitting costs with friends who earn more (or less) than you
- Should you lend money to a friend? Five rules that protect the friendship