It's not unusual these days for university students to carry on living with mum and dad so they can save a few pennies.

But this opens up a whole host of problems when it comes to keeping your house clean. After all, they might crash in drunk in the middle of the night, leave a trail of destruction behind them and only rise from their pit in time for Countdown to start.

So what can you do to ensure they don't completely trash your house and shirk their responsibilities as they try to savour the student lifestyle and rub along well with the parents at the same time?

Set ground rules
At the age of 18, your kids should be able to cope with a few domestic chores, such as sweeping the floor or doing a bit of laundry. If you do everything for them, they'll expect that to continue forever. By laying out your expectations early, you have a solid argument when you feel they're slacking on their responsibilities and expecting too much of you.

Make sure they pay their way
Subsidising every living cost for students won't give them much of a reason to help out domestically. So ensure they contribute to household expenses so they feel more of a stake in what is going on at home.

Show them how things should be done
If, by some miracle, your student offspring does help out with a chore, don't criticise them if they don't do it particularly well. Adopt a more positive stance and show them how they can do it before they start. Again, it's all about setting expectations. After all, if they know they can do a half-hearted job because you'll ride to the rescue, they won't be encouraged to pull their weight.

Nobody said have uni students living at home would be simple, but hopefully these tips will make it a little simpler. 

Of course, the remaining option is to take everybody out of the equation and bring in a professional cleaner instead. It could just save everyone's relationships!