Gas and Electricity prices for students. HELP.

Joel.walker92

I'm moving into a house next month with 7 other students, and we are clueless about who to go with for gas and electricity.

There are 11 bedrooms in the property however only 8 will be used, as well as 3 bathrooms a living room and a kitchen. We have no idea how much utility bills will be and who will be the best supplier.

Can any one shed any light onto the matter?

Cardew

Initially you have to go with the company supplying the house - you are on a deemed contract.

You can then switch to a cheaper tariff which takes about 6-8 weeks. Bear in mind that the cheaper tariffs have a fixed length with penalty payments if you leave early. However these penalties are small in comparison with the large bills you will be having.

One thing is absolutely certain - there will be big rows about bill payments. You need to have a kitty and ensure EVERYONE pays their contribution. The usual problems occur when:

a. One student has boyfriend/girlfriend stay a lot.

b. Someone claims he/she spend most nights at boyfriend/girlfriend's digs.

c. some go home for vacation - others don't.

d. some have electric heaters in room. - bear in mind that bedrooms have radiators sized for cooler temperatures than living rooms and many students use their bedroom as a living/study room.

e. some use appliances a lot eg washing machine, dryer - others don't

An 11 bed house is presumably old and will probably have poor insulation - so bills are high. £3,000 to £4000 pa would not be unexpected. You need to hammer out rules straight away.

P.S. Don't forget water bills!!

macman

It would help if you told us what the heating system is-does the property have a gas CH system supplying rads throughout the house? How is the hot water supplied? Those items are the ones that will cost.
Also bear in mind that if all 11 (!) of you are on the bill, then you are jointly and severally liable for the entire bill-you can't pay an eleventh only and say that the rest is not your responsibility.
With 11 sharers the system needs to be bulletproof, maybe all pay an agreed monthly amount by DD?

spiro

Given the amount you may be paying (£4000pa has been suggested) and there will be 8 of you living there your looking at £500pa each. Therefore I would suggest the bill money is collected weekly (£9.62) not monthly (£41.66).

How long is the lease you are signing?

I would suggest that to avoid arguements about "I was only here 3 days last week", I would say that the amount is paid weekly regardless of days away, holidays etc because I suspect these will even out over the duration of the lease.

As others have said I think you need a robust set of rules because with a property of that size waste could easily add a large percent to your bills.