High Electricty in Rented Accomodation

tori.k

5 of us live in a 3 bed all elec house, with three teenagers with all the usual computer gadgets/boys toys and a old immersion heater running 24/7, 3 loads of washing drying a day and we use just over £1200 a year, so a detail billing is a must

Fire_Fox

Premier wrote: »

What if each appartment is not independantly metered?
What about communal electricity usage e.g. corridor or security lighting?

Communal electricity is usually (appreciate not always) billed as part of the service charge which is payable by the leaseholder not rental tenant.

Fire_Fox

lionaljoseph wrote: »

Hi All,

I live in a rented flat that ONLY has electricty. Its modern, very well insulated so I hardly use the heating, probably only during the cold winter really.

The building has its own electricty meters and bills come direct from the buildings management company; no service provider company such as British Gas, eon etc

My bills are incredibly high, around £500 per quarter for a well insulated one bed flat, living alone. I'm not alone either, other tennants are feeling the pinch too. The building is quite nice and has some comfortable residents; who just pay direct debit and dont even think about it.

The estate agent (who sends me the bills from the management company) has said to me 'i think your getting ripped off personally, but not sure what we can do about it'.

I have been to energy watch, citizens advice and others, had NO luck whatsoever.

I'm pretty sure its the electric boiler that is causing the high usage, as it continuously switches itself on to keep a certain temperature. So I have generally kept it switched off unless i need heat or a shower.

Does anyone have any thoughts (other than jeez your getting ripped off or move out, i've heard that a few times).

The problem is that my landlord has about £1,000 deposit so its not so simple to move out because any outstanding bills will just be taken out the deposit, which means they win, i still get ripped off and end up having to go through the headache of relocating.

Any insights

Have you written to the management company to ask for a copy of the original energy bill? You may be being billed for communal electricity, rightly or wrongly, you may be being billed on a business tariff (our communal electricity is) and it may not have been competitively tendered recently. The management company don't have a direct relationship with you so they may refuse to provide the bill if so ...

Have you written to your landlord directly and asked him for a copy of the original energy bill? He is legally entitled to get further information about any aspect of service charges, within one month of a request. You in turn are legally entitled to your landlord's name and address from the estate agent, as long as you request this in writing. IIRC these rights are set out in the the Landlord-Tenant Act 1985.

We really need to establish what you are paying for, a share of the entire buildings usage under one communal meter, the meter for your own flat (which might be faulty or you might be being deliberately overcharged), what your usage is in KWH, what tariff you are being charged on, who the supplier is. What exactly does your most recent bill say?

Fire_Fox

pmhtuk wrote: »

Incidently, I'm having a similar problem, but the company (in this case, Switch2 (ENER-G)) are yet to provide a bill after several months of moving into a new apt.

I'm concerned that I don't know how much I'm using, and have emailed them twice with the same response, saying a bill will be issued soon/they're updating their systems with tenants details/etc and I've no idea how much I'm going to have to pay.

They are in place to 'provide a better service and deal' and I'm sure that the building designer / owner (Urban Splash) will be getting some sort of cut from the money made, or commission...

You also need to give us more information, are you a rental tenant or leaseholder? Do you have access to your own electricity meter? Have you tried writing a formal letter of complaint instead of lazy e-mail?

Premier_2

lionaljoseph wrote: »

Each apartment has bills based on usage ...

And how many kwh does it say you have consumed in the last quarter?
Was this based on actual or estimated readings?

Vin2300

lionaljoseph wrote: »

My bills are incredibly high, around £500 per quarter for a well insulated one bed flat, living alone.

I live in something similar - modern, electric only, rented, and a 2-bed flat.

For comparison, my bills are £250 per annum. Something is badly badly wrong there.

I suspect your tenancy agreement might have been worded so that the landlord can charge you the bills as opposed to the supplier billing you direct. If this is the case, move.