Split the rent by what each person is actually getting, not by how many people there are. A master bedroom with its own bathroom is worth meaningfully more than the small room off the corridor, and an even split quietly charges the person in the small room for the difference. Weight each room, agree the number before anyone pays, and put it in writing along with who pays which bills and what happens if somebody leaves early.
Weight the rooms, then divide
The method that holds up is simple. Give each room a weight against a standard room, add the weights, and each person pays their weight divided by the total. A master bedroom with an ensuite usually carries about a third more than a standard room. A small room or a box room carries about a quarter less.
Apply the same weighting to the fees, not just the rent. The agent fee, agreement fee and caution fee all scale with the place, and splitting the rent carefully then splitting the fees evenly undoes the work.
- Master bedroom with ensuite
- Around 1.35 times a standard room. The private bathroom is the bulk of the premium.
- Standard bedroom
- The baseline everything else is measured against.
- Small or box room
- Around 0.75. Usually the room that loses most under an even split.
- Shared space
- Already in the rent. Nobody pays extra for the sitting room, and nobody pays less for not using it.
Agree these before anyone pays
- The share
- The exact figure each person pays and what it is based on. Numbers, not proportions people remember differently later.
- The date
- When each person pays and to whom. Paying the landlord separately is cleaner than one person collecting.
- The bills
- Electricity, water, internet, waste, generator fuel and security. Say which are split evenly and which are split by use.
- The caution fee
- Who put in what, and how it comes back. This is the line that causes the most trouble at the end of a tenancy.
- Leaving early
- How much notice, and whether the leaver finds a replacement or forfeits their share. Agreeing this while everyone is friendly is the entire point.
- Guests
- How long someone can stay before they are effectively living there and the split should change.
Put it in writing, even with friends
A flatmate agreement is not a legal instrument between you and the landlord. It is a record of what you agreed with each other, and its value is that it exists when memories diverge. One page, both names, dated, is enough.
It matters most with people you know well, because that is exactly when nobody writes anything down and nobody wants to raise it later.
For context on what people are planning around: members searching in Lagos typically set between ₦100,000 and ₦450,000 a year for their own share.
Questions people ask
Should roommates split rent evenly?
Only if the rooms are genuinely equal, which they rarely are. Weight each room against a standard one, around 1.35 for a master with an ensuite and around 0.75 for a small room, then divide by the total weight. Apply the same weighting to the fees.
How do I calculate each person's share?
Give every room a weight, add them up, and each person pays their weight divided by the total, multiplied by the rent. Flatmate's rent split calculator does it for you and gives you a link you can send to the group.
Is a flatmate agreement legally binding in Nigeria?
It is a contract between the flatmates, so it can matter between you, but it does not change the tenancy agreement with the landlord. Its practical value is as a dated record of what everyone agreed. Take advice if significant money depends on it.
What if one person wants the bigger room?
That is what the weighting is for. Someone taking the master bedroom pays a larger share, and the arrangement stops being a favour anyone resents.
Who should pay the landlord?
Each person paying their own share directly is cleanest, because arrears then attach to whoever caused them. If one person has to collect and pay, keep the transfer records.
Where to go next
Other things worth knowing before you pay
Measured listing figures update automatically from active Flatmate listings; worked examples are labelled separately. General information, not legal advice; tenancy rules differ by state.