communal electricity charges for flats

Susan_m

Hi
Just need some advice. I live in a small estate of 3 blocks consisting in total of 20 flats. We've all lived there just over 4 years. Our communal electricity for lights in the car park and landings etc are included in our annual service bill. We've just been told by our housing association that the service bill will increase as they haven't paid for the communal lighting in ONE of the blocks since we've lived there. When we queried why they hadn't noticed they said they get one bill for all the blocks and assumed it was correct. Should we have to pay or is it's the landlords responsibility as they should have checked. Also how far back can they claim for unpaid electricity?

nomoneytoday

If the electricity has been used then the powerco will be chasing payment.
Who else do you think should pay the bill?

spiro

If the communal power is metered then I would say the HA are negligent for not checking the bills and would argue about having to pay back the arrears they have caused to occur.

Going forward it will need to increase to cover the extra useage.

Susan_m

i appreciate that the electricity should be paid for but I think it's a bit much that the housing association expects us to pay for over 4 years worth when they should have been checking the bills. We don't see the bill or do the metre readings for the communal area they do