Gas, electric meter's

Carmen

Hi,
My son is planning on letting his house for a year, maybe longer. I think he should get meters installed for the gas and electricity, does anyone know the cost of having these installed?
Thanks
Carmen x

Carmen

Carmen wrote: »

Hi,
My son is planning on letting his house for a year, maybe longer. I think he should get meters installed for the gas and electricity, does anyone know the cost of having these installed?
Thanks
Carmen x

Just to clarify, the kind of meters that require keys, that can be topped up at certain outlets.

paintpot

Why does he want these meters? I would just like to tell you my experience of them as a landlord is that they are a total and utter pain in the !!!!, don't even get me started!.

Basically, the tenant will pay more for their utilities than a normal meter and that is a negative in itself. I would strongly suggest that he keeps what he has and basically is thorough in ensuring that once a new tenant moves in he reads the meters and transfers the contract into the new tenants name by contacting the utility provider, he has then absolved himself of any responsibility to pay any outstanding bill should the tenant leave without paying the bill as it will be in THEIR name and not his. Same when the tenant moves, read the meters and notify the provider. Always keep a record of the readings and the date you made the call etc. Alot simpler than prepayment meters. Plus, whilst some tenants might like prepayment meters others hate them and the hassle of having them installed/removed could be enough to put anyone off. If a new tenant REALLY want a prepayment meter, then can apply for it themselves although I would not encourage that either.



Hope this helps

Carmen

Paintpot, that is a huge help, thank you.
I thought all utility bills stayed in the landlords name.
I think he needs to read up the pro's and con's of letting, is there a 'site' where he can do this?
Carmen x

paintpot

Hi Carmen

There is alot more to being a landlord than people often realise when entering into it. Whilst it isn't rocket science, the cost of making a mistake can be huge. If you select the wrong tenant (maybe through not referencing them correctly) then you could be without rent for months whilst you try and evict them, not to mention potential damage to your property.

Is your son familiar with the deposit laws, gas safety inspections, does he have landlord building insurance, has he notified his lender of intention to let, how is he going to deal with maintenance issues, who is going to write the inventory if he managing himself, is he renting furnished or unfurnished, if furnished, do the furnishings meet regulations, is he going to get appliances PAT tested and an electrical safefty certificate on the property, does he have an AST to use, how he is going to find tenants to rent his house and then how is he going to reference them, what will he do if the tenant stops paying rent suddenly?

Lots of questions I know, but these all need to be answered by him at some point if he is going to let his house. He may be better using an agent, but if he uses an agent then he needs to select them carefully, he should select one that is a member of an industry recognised body for a start like ARLA.

By all means, post back any questions, there are lots of landlords on here willing to help.

I have Pm'd you also.

Hope this helps.

Edit: the landlord only pays the bills if this is agreed as part of the rent but this would be highly unusual for a house let, it's usually done like this in flats or student lets for example where bills are inclusive but not houses, the tenant is usually responsible for all utilities including council tax and TV licence and this is written into the tenancy agreement.

jdavtz

Carmen wrote: »

I thought all utility bills stayed in the landlords name.

That would be a really bad idea, unless he's adding £+++ to the rent to cover elec/gas/water/etc.

lemontart

http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/Gas/Connections/

juliedawn_2

When we moved to our house 10 years ago we had a pre payment electric meter.That was fine then someone told me they were dearer than normal electric so i had it changed free of charge then i wasn't told by my supplier that we weren't paying enough a month to cover the electric ( we were set £30 a month).Then i had a whacking £300 bill to pay off.Then we switched back to meter knowing it was dearer but at least we were paying as we went.I've now applied to switch to Ebico as they don't charge you extra on meters be it gas or electric.