This study reveals how likely you are to sleep with your housemate

(And cheat on someone else with them too)

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splitting up with housemates
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(And cheat on someone else with them too)

They say that the golden rule is to not sleep with someone you live with, but it seems like an awful lot of people are throwing caution to the wind. According to a new study about splitting up with housemates, more than one in five people admitted they had had sexual encounters with someone they had lived with (boyfriends and girlfriends aside).

The survey conducted by Web Blinds polled 2847 UK men and women over the age of 18, who had all previously rented a house with other people. 21% of participants admitted they had fooled around with another housemate they were not dating and of those people, over half revealed that at least one of them had been cheating on their partner.

Less than a quarter of those those relationships actually led to a romance, while people cited their dalliances as the second most popular reason why their house hadn’t worked out. Another heartbreaking reason was similarly related - nearly one in ten participants had fallen in unrequited love with someone they lived with.

splitting up with housemates

(Image credit: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock)

On average, people had lived in four different flatshares and 86% admitted that they had moved out of at least one property because they had issues with a housemate. Messiness, hygiene and sex topped the list of reasons why people had felt the need to split - the whole list is below.

  1. My ex-housemate(s) were unhygienic /messy – 32%
  2. I had a sexual encounter with an ex-housemate that made living together awkward – 18%
  3. I argued/fell out with my ex-housemate(s) - 16%
  4. My ex-housemate(s) were bad with money and didn’t keep up to date with rent/bills – 13%
  5. My ex-housemate(s) were too loud/noisy – 12%
  6. I didn’t like my ex-housemate(s) friends/partner – 12%
  7. I began to develop unreciprocated romantic feelings for a housemate – 9%
  8. My ex-housemate(s) invaded my privacy too often – 5%
  9. My ex-housemate(s) stole from me -3%
  10. My ex-housemate(s) got a pet I couldn’t live with – 2%

So as a rule of thumb, shower regularly, do your dishes and keep your housemates out of your pants.

Megan C. Hills
Megan C. Hills

Megan is a freelance journalist who covers entertainment and all things lifestyle, with a particular passion for fashion, beauty, travel and Keanu Reeves stories. She has previously worked on staff for titles including Marie Claire UK, CNN Style and The Evening Standard and has written for titles such as Bustle UK, Wallpaper*, Forbes and Hong Kong Tatler. She splits her time between London and her hometown Hong Kong, where she currently lives with the love of her life - an elderly dog named Poppy - and her husband.