Moving in with flatmates?

What this document contains

8 clauses every flatmate agreement carries, plus 2 you can add.

1. 01

   Introduction

   The preamble: date and place, the First and Second Flatmate with the recital wording their entityType selects, further flatmates as additional parties, and the recitals stating that this Agreement runs between the occupants alone and never touches the head tenancy.

2. 02

   The Premises and the Head Tenancy

   Identifies the shared premises, the landlord, and the head tenancy under which they are held — the lease, rent agreement or leave-and-licence this Agreement sits beneath. The head tenancy is referenced only: its particulars anchor every share and obligation in this Agreement, and nothing here amends it.

3. 03

   Between the Occupants Only — No Sublease, No Licence, No Variation

   The clause that keeps this instrument inside its lane: it is a contract between the occupants alone under the Indian Contract Act, 1872. It creates no sublease, sub-tenancy or licence, transfers no interest in the Premises, and varies nothing in the Head Tenancy — the Landlord's rights are untouched, and on any conflict the Head Tenancy prevails as regards the Landlord.

4. 04

   The Deposit and the Shares

   The internal money map: the total security deposit held by the Landlord under the Head Tenancy, the total monthly rent, and how both are shared — equally, or in unequal shares recorded per flatmate (rooms of different size carry different rent). Every later apportionment and the leaver's refund formula read from this clause.

5. 05

   Paying the Rent and the Bills

   The monthly mechanics: whether one flatmate collects everyone's Rent Share and pays the Landlord or each pays their own share, how many days before the due date contributions are made, and the shared household bills — listed one per line — borne in the same proportion as rent. Late contribution makes good any late-payment cost under the Head Tenancy.

6. 06

   Leaving, the Cut-Off, and the Leaver's Deposit

   The exit machinery this instrument exists for: the internal notice a leaver gives the others, the named cut-off (meter readings or the departure date) against which rent and bills are apportioned, the formula for returning the leaver's Deposit Share — by an incoming replacement paying it directly, or by the remaining flatmates refunding within a set period — and the consent every replacement needs from the remaining flatmates and, where the Head Tenancy requires, the Landlord.

7. 07

   Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

   Applicable law, jurisdiction, and dispute resolution mechanism (courts or arbitration under Indian law).

8. 08

   General Provisions

   The closing machinery: entire agreement, written amendments, notices (including by email or the messaging service the household actually uses), severability, no waiver by indulgence, counterparts, stamp duty borne equally, and the relationship confined to co-occupants — no partnership, agency or employment.

Optional clauses

• House Rules

  The optional household code, one rule per line — quiet hours, guests and overnight stays, cleaning turns, shared supplies — plus an optional monthly kitty for common purchases. Rules bind as contract terms between the Parties; they are the difference between a norm and a request.

  Worth adding when: The flatmates want the everyday ground rules — guests, quiet hours, cleaning, a common kitty — written into the agreement rather than argued later

• Custom Clause

  A free-form clause for bespoke provisions not covered by standard clauses. Use clauseId 'custom-clause-1', 'custom-clause-2', etc. to add multiple.

What the law requires

A contract between occupants, not an interest in property

The agreement's force comes from the Indian Contract Act, 1872 — mutual promises about money and conduct between the occupants. Draft nothing that grants exclusive possession of any part of the premises against the landlord, and never call a flatmate's occupation a sublease or licence: creating an interest in the premises is both outside the parties' power (the head tenancy usually forbids it) and the one thing that could put every occupant in breach.

Sections 10 and 37, Indian Contract Act 1872; Section 105, Transfer of Property Act 1882 and Section 52, Indian Easements Act 1882 (the categories this agreement deliberately stays out of)

The landlord is a stranger to this paper

Privity: the landlord takes no rights and no obligations under an agreement they never signed, and nothing in it varies the head tenancy. Never draft an obligation on the landlord, and never suggest the internal exit notice ends anyone's liability under the head tenancy — release from that paper can come only from the landlord.

The privity rule as received in Indian contract law; the head tenancy's own terms

Money between flatmates is recoverable — if it is written and time-bound

A flatmate's unpaid share, or an unreturned deposit share, is a money claim with a three-year limitation running from when it falls due (Article 55 pattern, Limitation Act 1963). That is why every share is named per person, the refund carries a hard deadline in days, and deductions require a written statement — the document is built to be sued on cheaply if it ever has to be.

Limitation Act 1963; Sections 73–74, Indian Contract Act 1872

The cut-off is evidence, not arithmetic

Move-out disputes are rarely about the formula and almost always about the facts — what the meter read, what was unpaid, what was damaged. Prefer the meter-reading cut-off where meters exist, taken jointly and on the departure date; the date-based split is the fallback for what no meter measures.

Drafting practice; Section 65, Indian Evidence Act 1872 (proof of contents by the record the parties made)