Employment
When looking at people that you may want to live with, it is important that they have a stable income. Living with someone whose income is unstable is a risk for you as you can't guarantee that they won't suddenly be unable to pay rent. Having a housemate that misses rent payments is very troubling depending on how it is being paid. For example if the full rent is sent to the landlord by one person who is being reimbursed, they may end up out of pocket. Because of this, it is recommended to look into someone's employment history if you are thinking of flatting with them.
Cleanliness
When you have someone living with you, you want to make sure that someone will treat the living space with respect. Living in an untidy space, especially when it is someone else's mess, can be very unpleasant. Poor cleaning or hygiene can lead to issues such as mold or pests that you will not want to have to deal with. Having someone that does not tidy up after themselves can also mean that your workload for tidying the house is increased. This can become a big burden on you depending on the severity of the mess. The biggest issue with this is that the problems that mess can cause may result in damage that could prevent you from getting your bond back, or in a more serious case, get you evicted.
Substances
No one wants to live with someone who is constantly under the influence of something. Whether it be drugs or alcohol this can be very problematic if they are not responsible with substance use. Not only is someone who is constantly under the influence harder to deal with but depending on the substance, they may implicate you in legal trouble. It is worth noting however that the use of certain substances such as alcohol should not be a deal breaker if someone is responsible with it. It is all about finding out and then deciding on whether it crosses any boundaries that you are not comfortable with. In essence, checking for this is about making sure that you feel comfortable in your own home as well as feeling safe. Because of this, it will greatly depend on your own boundaries.
Someone who will want to continue living with you
Finding someone that you will want to stay with even when one of you wants to move to a place can be very useful. Moving from one place to another with someone else has a number of benefits. Firstly, you are already used to each other and will know each other's boundaries which prevents conflict. This will also help you to adjust to the new living situation quicker as you will have someone familiar with you. One other big benefit to moving together is that you will be able to move all of your stuff together at once using a moving company. This means that moving will be cheaper as you will not be having to both pay a moving company individually.
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