There are some obvious advantages to living with housemates – splitting the rent, splitting the bills, sharing the calls to the real estate agent about fixing that backyard water hazard – but it’s not for everyone, and particularly not forever.




Here are some of the signs that you’re ready to embrace going solo.




You have a busy job and you want to go home to decompress




Whether you work in a high-pressure environment or one that requires constant human interaction, there are circumstances in which you might prefer to come home to an empty house to relax and unwind.




There will be plenty of future opportunities to grit your teeth and force conversation when you’re really not in the mood. So why not save that experience for someone you love, as opposed to a mutual financial beneficiary in a shared living arrangement?




You get upset when commonly used items aren’t exactly where you want them to be




There is nothing wrong with a difference of opinion about which drawer should hold the tea towels (bottom drawer, right?) but if you find yourself unable to humour your flatmate’s utterly wrong opinion, maybe it’s best to consider finding yourself a kitchen for one.




You have a relaxed approached to mess




This is more a matter of incompatibility – if you live with someone with the same relaxed attitude, it can be a harmonious household. But a casual approach isn’t universally popular and if you are not keen on having that pointed out to you via a Post-it note – understandable – maybe stick to being surrounded by your exclusive clutter.




Also, if you notice that it’s both things being cleaned and things not being cleaned that enrages you, then it could be a problem that a roster stuck to the fridge can’t fix. Get your own place.




You prefer to stay in, rather than go out




It could be that you want to build your own lounge room nest in which to luxuriate. Or it could be that you are trying to save money by hibernating and you don’t like the implied judgment that comes from a flatmate asking what you are doing this weekend.




Or it could be that you work from home, and need to create your own physical and mental space to do it in. If you’re planning on spending a lot of time in the great indoors, then it’s perhaps not a bad investment to get a space that’s all yours – at least from a cost-per-wear perspective.




You have an overwhelming urge to rearrange, well, everything




Perhaps you spend far too much time daydreaming about how you would rearrange the lounge room if there wasn’t that oversized ugly coffee table that took up most of the usable space.




Or how you would prefer a dining table to a dance floor, or how you’d like to ditch the wall-mounted TV and get some quality art – whatever it is.




If you’re feeling stifled and stymied surrounded by other people’s stuff, living by yourself presents an opportunity to break free and express the real, authentic you through soft furnishings.




You have a partner who is always visiting but you’re not quite ready to move in together




It’s the transitional step, and it is as much for your housemates’ benefit as yours. Nobody wants to watch Q&A with a couple canoodling on the next couch.




You hate sharing a bathroom. Or any room.




This one’s fairly self-explanatory.




You’ve seen those tiny houses on the internet and really wanted to take a crack at minimalist living




The thing is, it’s hard to do it with other people’s stuff in the house and it’s generally frowned on in polite society to go ahead and throw it out for them. Best to start with a blank slate in your own space.




You can afford it




Have you seen how much a one-bedroom apartment goes for? If you can afford it, why not – it’s basically a status symbol.




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