How can I find out the RV for my property?

beckaroo

I have recently just purchased my property using the Council Right to Buy scheme so all my water rates used to be included in my rent, therefore I've never received a bill or even have any idea as to how much water rates are for my property.

Essex & Suffolk Water website states that they will send me a bill once they have received notification from the Council that I am now the owner.

I am trying to budget and work out what all my outgoings will be but am stuck with regards to the water bill as I have no idea what the RV of my property is - is there a website I can use to calculate this? I have googled it and can't find anything.

I am toying with the idea of a water meter but until I know what the unmetered costs are likely to be, I can't make the decision.

Oh and one other question - if on a water meter, can you pay monthly? If so, do you submit meter readings so you pay for actual use?

Any help would be great fully appreciated, thank you.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

would this be any help?

beckaroo

Hi, many thanks for the reply however my understanding is that Council Tax banding doesn't have anything to do with calculating water rates? Unless I'm missing something obvious lol...

[Deleted User]

Hi,

sorry, I took this to mean it was based on rateable value.

Cardew

The Rateable Value(RV) ceased to be used by Councils in April 1990 as the means of calculating 'local taxes' - changed to Poll tax and then the current Council Tax.

Only Water companies continued to use the RV as the basis of charging for unmetered properties - it was mandatory for properties built after April 1990 to have a meter.

Very few councils have kept old records of RV values. So the Water company are generally the only people who hold that information.

Your best bet is to ask unmetered neighbours with similar properties their RV. Although yours might not be identical, it will give you a good guide.

You should appreciate that the water company could insist you are metered.

macman

Ask the water utility what the RV is.
You can't get this data from the VO- they only hold non-domestic RVs.

beckaroo

Thank you for all your replies, you've been a great help

argomatt

I have a water meter and I make payments fortnightly, though there are many ways to do it.

Yours might be different but with Southern Water you can pay:

Every 6 months when the bill comes,
By direct debit, annually, 6 monthly, or monthly
By payment card, weekly, fortnightly, or monthly at the Post Office

HTH

Matt