How to split rent between roommates?

Question

My roommates and I are in a disagreement about how to split rent. This is a three bedroom apartment and there will be four of us living there.

Would it be more fair splitting the rent by square footage? Or taking the taking cost of the apartment and dividing it by the number of rooms?

Personally, I think dividing by square footage is more fair, because the master should be more than the single, and the people in the master should then split the cost of the master (The cost of master is more than the single, but the price the two pay individually in the master is less than the amount the people in the single pay)

How would you do it?

Answer 1

In my opinion the master should be more than a single room, but not the same amount as the two singles added together.  for example if the place cost $1000. the people in the single should pay about $300. each and the ones in the master about $200. the utilities should be divided in four parts equally.  The reason you will pay $100. more for the single is because you have your privacy and the one using the master will not.

Answer 2

Sound fair to me

Answer 3

The fair way would indeed be to charge on the space occupied.