Guide
How rent splitting works
Shared houses and co-tenancies put several tenants on one lease but need rent billed and tracked per person. This guide covers how splitting works and the one place it usually breaks.
Percentage vs fixed splits
A percentage split (say 50/50 or 30/30/40) divides whatever the rent is at any given time. A fixed split assigns each tenant a rand amount (for example R6,000 and R4,000 on a R10,000 rent). Percentage splits are simpler; fixed splits are common where one tenant has the bigger room or a parent is covering a set portion.
Individual invoicing and collection
Each tenant should get their own invoice, receipt and — where used — their own debit order for their share, so one tenant paying late does not obscure who is actually in arrears.
Where splits break: the rent increase
When rent goes up, a naive system either scales every share (wrong for fixed splits) or leaves the total under-collecting. The correct behaviour is to hold fixed portions where they were set and apply the increase to the remainder, or to re-confirm the split explicitly. This is the most common source of quiet under-collection on shared leases.
Frequently asked questions
- Can different tenants on one lease pay on different dates?
- Yes. Each tenant’s share can have its own collection schedule, which is useful when co-tenants are paid by different employers on different days.
- What happens to a fixed split when rent increases?
- Paydwell protects the fixed portions you set and applies the increase to the rest, so the split does not silently become incorrect after an escalation.
- Is each tenant liable only for their share?
- That depends on your lease. Many co-tenancy leases make tenants jointly and severally liable for the full rent regardless of the internal split — the split is an administrative convenience, not a change to legal liability. Check your lease wording.
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