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Zoopla Details

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Trixie29
Trixie29 Posts: 6 Forumite
in House buying, renting & selling
Hi

I am looking at buying my first property and wonder if anyone knows how reliable the Zoopla bill estimates are?

Having never paid bills I am struggling to budget what my outgoings would be.

I am looking at a 2 bedroom end terrace and they are estimating £29 water and £94 energy?

Any help would be most appreciated!

Thanks in advance :)

Comments

  • PositivelyPerturbed
    PositivelyPerturbed Posts: 26 Forumite
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    I often find that Zoopla is quite far off the mark. £94 for energy for a single person living in a 2 bed house seems somewhat excessive - I pay £76 for a 3 bed family of 4
  • Yazmina
    Yazmina Posts: 291 Forumite
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    I'm paying £36 per month for water and £62 for energy. 3 bed house, just the two of us.
  • Smodlet
    Smodlet Posts: 6,976 Forumite
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    Does Zoopla even know whether mains gas is present or not? How can a property website know what people's usage is, let alone what tariff(s) they are on?

    Take readings every month, put them into your online account and work out what your energy costs; then you'll know. Try the CEC. It guesstimates "average" usage.
  • kinger101
    kinger101 Posts: 6,292 Forumite
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    Most of the water bill is standing charge, so for a single person, it's about right. Assuming it's metered. As for gas and electric, there are many variables (property construction, when it's occupied, how much common sense occupier has, whether they shop around). I'd say it's likely within £30 either way.
    "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance" - Confucius
  • dunroving
    dunroving Posts: 1,881 Forumite
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    Worth also taking into account the EPC score, which will affect heating costs regardless of how many people live there.

    FYI my electricity and gas bills average to about £90 pcm for one person in an average 3BR semi with combination gas boiler central heating. Council tax (includes water) is £91 pcm, Band C, includes single occupancy reduction.
    (Nearly) dunroving
  • AlexMac
    AlexMac Posts: 2,994 Forumite
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    Wow Trixie; I'm really impressed that you are already budgeting down to this level of detail... You'll go far.

    As regards accuracy, I dunno waht Zoopla base their estimates on but these seem a reasonable start; perhaps a bit toppy;
    Trixie29 wrote: »
    ... they are estimating £29 water and £94 energy?

    We have a well-insulated 4 bed detached house which has double glazing, very thick loft insulation, new boiler, gas CH and accurate smart meters with a competent energy provider, so is much cheaper to run than any of our previous much older properties

    Energy costs us about £90 per month averaged over the year and we don't stint. Water is only £17 per month, but that's on a meter and there are only two of us most of the time and we save water (dont use a hose, water butts for gardens, etc, so that's half the local average.

    Make sure you have really thick insulation in the loft but beware retro-fitting cavity wall insulation which can cause problems in older houses.
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