Moved home...can't afford the electricity

happy35

i would speak to your local CAB and see if they can offer ay advice

I would have thought that a reputable agent should have verified everything with the property was as described, is there anything on your lease that states they are not responsible for the details of the advert?

I did live in a freezing house myself years ago and found the best things were an electric throw thing to wrap yourself in when sitting on the settee and one of those cheap blowy heater things as they take the chill off quickly so you dont need them on that long.

I am also a great fan of the slanket and a hot water bottle, hopefully the weather wont take a turn for the worse and you will get through your year without the cold getting even worse unless there is a get out clause in your lease somewhere

I would have thought that your strongest point was the property was not as described but dont know how much weight this will hve

good luck

energysavingexp

Matt_in_Walsall wrote: »

Yes i mean a smoke alarm. When i went to view the house everything was where it should have been, doors weren't falling off. It's all happened since moving in. The place was clean when i viewed, when i came to move in, some work has been done and there was saw dust everywhere. I had to clean it myself.

The convector heaters are more expensive to use as they do not have a thermostat. I can run the oil radiators all day and not use as much as it would cost to run the convector heaters. Basically it looks like they've picked any old heaters and put them up. All the work identified on the itinerary has not been done as requested by the agents. I feel like an idiot for taking the house!

put it in writing that they are breaking the law with not having a working smoke alarm
also point out that all the work that was identified on the itinerary has not been done and as so they are in breach of contract so you may have a way out of it after all

DUTR

HappyMJ wrote: »

Convector heaters are not that expensive. Yes they are more expensive than gas central heating but not by that much. It does not cost £20 for 1 convector heater for 1 day. I use convector heaters most of the time at the moment. They are rated at 2kw each. 6 hours would be 12kWh at 12p per hour that's only £1.44 and that's running at maximum. If it were to run at maximum the room would be far too hot. Normally they switch off for quite a while before the thermostat turns them back on again. In the last week I used 60kWh for the week as it was so mild. On a prepayment meter that would have cost £7.20 plus any standing charges. With Ebico that would have been £10.66. You need to take actual meter readings and figure out why the usage is so high.

Yep the OP has confused the issue slightly by going off track with the state of the property to an extent, the dwelling is on pre pay and hence seeking a lower £/Kwh rate maybe a choice, I use about £26/month leccy but this is offset by the gas being £125 this month, so although the OP is paying more at present, it is not really that far off the mark considering it is prepay vs DD tariffs

Callie22

energysavingexp wrote: »

hi you say you have no fire alarm do you mean smoke detector?
if so that is a legal requirment and you should tell them that

It's only a legal requirement for a rented house to have a smoke alarm fitted if is was built after June 1992 or if it's an HMO (House in Multiple Occpation). There's no legal requirement for older rented houses lived in by single families to have one, although it's a pretty stupid landlord that doesn't bother (like my own, which is why I know this). If the OP is concerned, then it's very cheap to buy your own - not an ideal solution, but possibly the best one if your landlord is a fool.

DUTR

Callie22 wrote: »

It's only a legal requirement for a rented house to have a smoke alarm fitted if is was built after June 1992 or if it's an HMO (House in Multiple Occpation). There's no legal requirement for older rented houses lived in by single families to have one, although it's a pretty stupid landlord that doesn't bother (like my own, which is why I know this). If the OP is concerned, then it's very cheap to buy your own - not an ideal solution, but possibly the best one if your landlord is a fool.

My Bro's house is pre 1992 and he did have to have two smoke detectors fitted (as well as other items) before the property could be let, his current tenants had similar complaints about their previous dwelling regarding damp and internal frost, not sure if they got out early from the agreement though.

DMFR

Your local fire service will supply and fit a couple of smoke alarms for you free of charge.
Has the house got proper draught proofing - draught excluders on doors, loft insulation etc


Loft insulation can be delivered from £1 per roll - http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/diy-loft-insulation-1-per-roll-with-free-delivery-safety-kit-npower-build-centre-1103178

energysavingexp

also dont know if im right in thinking that the LL or agent cannot hold the deposit it has to be put in to some kind of account

you will need to check on this as i think its a new law that came in in the last few years

just found this link it may help you with some good advice

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/fire_safety.htm

hope this helps

advantix

when you took over the premesis did you register with the supplier for the electric and give a start meter reading as if not you could be paying a debt on the meter that is not yours.

neocorps

Ask to see the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), see whats going on with that massive bill.

Oldernotwiser

Surely you noticed that they were convector heaters rather than storage heaters when you looked round the property?