electricity bill ( live in landlord)

adyta

Hi,

My wife and I are renting a room with everything included in the price. We only have a verbal agreement and we've been here for almost a year. The initial price was 480£ but we paid 540£ from the start, the extra 60£ for being a couple. Two months in the rent was increased by another 50£ to 590£ because of the winter months.

Early this year we were asked to pay an extra 180£ (most of it came from using a 2 kw heater, the room was very cold most of the time even with the main heating on). We paid it and thought that would be it but a week ago we were told the usage is still high, even though we only used the heater in december and january and the readings are from march to june. He sends a reading every 3 months and pays by monthly direct debit. Initially he showed us some huge numbers (something like an increase of 35% over the coldest months which would be impossible ) . A few days ago before leaving town he left a note saying that the readings were wrong and he's corrected them but they're still high from the winter months and we need to pay and extra 134£/mo for the next 3 months. He says his monthly avg payment last year was 102£ so everything above that is for us to pay. We paid an extra 60£/mo for 3 months to cover the first quarter excess(the 180£ i mentioned earlier) and now the monthly is at 236£.

I calculated the amount we could have used during the cold period (dec and jan) and even if we had the 2kw heater on 10 hrs/day( which we didn't) that would only amount to about 150£ for both months combined. I work from home and use a desktop(300w plus monitor 65w) and a laptop (65w), even if all of these were turned on 13-14 hrs a day it would be around 20£/month.

We used to rent a 3 bed flat and the avg gas plus electric bill were 110£/mo combined.


These are the prices he pays:
primary 900kw @21.9p
secondary 11.4p
night 5.5


BILL PERIOD

---

DAY NO. -- KW ---- AVG KW/DAY

05/03/12 - 14/06/12

---

102 --- 5493 --- 54
14/12/11 - 04/03/12

---

82 --- 8887 --- 108
31/08/11 - 13/12/11

---

105 --- 4471 --- 43
01/07/11 - 30/08/11

---

61 --- 1103 --- 18
02/04/11 - 30/06/11

---

90 --- 1673 --- 19
17/01/11 - 01/04/11

---

75 --- 4693 --- 63


Something has to be wrong here, there is no way we use this much especially since the electric heater is out of the picture for the latest readings. Am I missing something? How can I find out the real usage? Thanks for any help.

Also, how much of the rent should cover the bills for 2 adults? We're already paying the base rent plus extra 60£ for couple plus 50£ for winter.

pmlindyloo

Unfortunately as lodgers you have almost no rights.

The figures you have quoted seem very high to me (not an expert).

Since your LL is responsible for the utility bills then I believe that you have no recourse other than to 'argue' with him. (Others will correct me if I'm wrong.)

If you cannot sit down and discuss this with your LL in an amicable fashion then your option is to leave.

I do think that your utility bills should have been included in your rent at the beginning and your LL should have increased your rent in line with any increases in costs periodically. I personally feel that this is not a very professional way for your LL to behave - demanding extra money for so many months. How does he expect you to budge properly?

However, having said all this, I have to repeat that you have practically no rights and he can ask you to leave giving very liitle notice.

I am assuming that you have use of the entire house rather than just the room? If not, then this might be an argument to put to him that you can't be responsible for half the bills if you do not have use of half the house.

So, in summary:

Discuss and come to an amicable agreement that the utility bills are included in a set rent which is reviewed periodically.

Find somewhere else to live and tell him that this is what you are going to do.

Refuse to pay the bills and wait for him to ask you to leave. If he wants to he can take you to the Small Claims Court for the 'missing money'. Whether he would win is up for discussion.

G_M

If your original agreement was that your rent was "with everything included in the price" then you should not have o pay extra for electricity etc.

However, as lodgers, you have no security, so if the landlord asks to increase the rent in hte future (ie from next week I want £xx instead) then you have only two choices:
1) agree and pay the extra or
2) leave

But he cannot charge you more for past usage - ie if you decide to leave you do not have to pay extra just because he says the last electricity bill was high).

The bills are not your concern. Whether last winter's bill was high is not your concern (incidentally it might be because electricity prices have gone up, not that more electricity is being used!). The rent you pay is "with everything included in the price".

However, as explained, if you cannot agree a new rent, either with/without electricity included going forward, your only option is to leave and find somewhere cheaper.

But do NOT pay extra for electricity used in the past!

katejo

G_M wrote: »

If your original agreement was that your rent was "with everything included in the price" then you should not have o pay extra for electricity etc.

However, as lodgers, you have no security, so if the landlord asks to increase the rent in hte future (ie from next week I want £xx instead) then you have only two choices:
1) agree and pay the extra or
2) leave

But he cannot charge you more for past usage - ie if you decide to leave you do not have to pay extra just because he says the last electricity bill was high).

The bills are not your concern. Whether last winter's bill was high is not your concern (incidentally it might be because electricity prices have gone up, not that more electricity is being used!). The rent you pay is "with everything included in the price".

However, as explained, if you cannot agree a new rent, either with/without electricity included going forward, your only option is to leave and find somewhere cheaper.

But do NOT pay extra for electricity used in the past!

Where in the UK are you? Your rent sounds high. I am renting to a single person and don't charge anything like that. I keep my rent (including bills) low to comply with the rent a room allowance (£370) but without that restriction I wouldn't ask for more than about £420. I wonder whether your landlord is declaring income to the taxman. Does your rent include council tax?

lvm

So...I can't really help on the utility bills side but I must say your live-in LL seems very strange.

I've been renting out my spare room for about 15 months now (a year to the same person) and I would never ask for money to make up previous months bills if they came in higher than usual (which they did over Crimbo) let alone ask my lodger for extra money on a couple of occasions. I factored in increased cost of gas/elec before deciding on a rental price and your LL should have done the same. I have found that my lodger uses more elec than the previous one but guess its about his lifestyle (high use of laptop and shower).

Looking at the numbers you've given though...did you move in Aug/Sept ? It does look like there was a huge increase in usage and if the LL isn't using any more elec than he used to, he's probably right to think its something you're doing. Not that that's an excuse to ask for extra cash whenever he wants.

It sounds like either your LL didn't believe your rent was all inclusive or that he is struggling for cash a bit and whereas I see the rental income as a bit of extra cash, yours might need it to get by every month. If its the latter then having a word and telling him you need an agreed fixed price every month (ask for a written contract), or you leave...he might be a bit more lenient if he thinks he might lose the income altogether.

Good luck and hope you get this sorted!

spinningsheep

I would echo what the others have said you really are paying a huge amount. When I first had a lodger I was surprised by how much the electricity usage went up but I just had to live with it. I charge £300 inclusive of all bills, cable tv, internet, use of kitchen, washing machine/tumble drier etc and I cook for her sometimes when I am in the mood, and would not even consider asking for extra money to make up for extra energy use in the winter. Your LL should have factored this in to his/her rental charge, and by you giving them extra all the while, this may even put them over the maximum income threshold for the rent a room scheme

But you really need to consider moving, I know even with the extra payments you make it's still cheaper than renting a house/flat, and I have no idea where you are in the country, so have no way of knowing whether the rental figure you quote is expensive or cheap, but the top up payments you speak of are ridiculous.