Fixed Electricity Company and Service Charge???

Erisu

Hi all,

So I got my contracts through from my solicitor last week for my new build flat. One of the documents mention my electricity supplier is EON and there will be a yearly service charge of £330 to supply the electricity to the building (this service charge is separate to the service charge I pay to the maintenance company to keep the building clean etc.)

Is this the norm with new builds these days??? I've never heard of a property that's fixed to one electricity supplier which you're not allowed to change. Furthermore if I want to sell this property in future, I'm thinking this might potential put buyers off?

Any thoughts on this everyone?

Thanks for the advanced replies!

moromir

Are you sure they don't mean to supply electric to the communal areas?

I.e. hallways, exterior lights, car park lighting etc.

Erisu

moromir wrote: »

Are you sure they don't mean to supply electric to the communal areas?

I.e. hallways, exterior lights, car park lighting etc.

I doubt it. Besides that's covered in the service charge i wouls think. Best i double check though!

From what i understand from the plans, theres a seperate section that's the electricty generator so i'm thinking it must be this? It's pretty annoying that i have to fork out £300 for this if it is.

tim123456789

This is not in any way normal and you need to establish exactly what you are being asked to pay for here.

Why is there a generator? That's not normal either. Are you sure that it's not a leccy board sub-station

tim

Erisu

tim123456789 wrote: »

This is not in any way normal and you need to establish exactly what you are being asked to pay for here.

Why is there a generator? That's not normal either. Are you sure that it's not a leccy board sub-station

tim

Hi Tim,

Yes, I've emailed the developer asking them to explain what this yearly cost will cover. Re-reading the EON document again it says "Annual Energy Service Charge"

Whatever that means :sad:

moromir

Also - the block isn't located somewhere totally wierd like.. half way up a mountain or something... somewhere where the electric board would have had to lay on special cabeling to reach... the cost of which is being recouped through this extra S.C?

(I have no idea I'm grasping at straws)

Erisu

moromir wrote: »

Also - the block isn't located somewhere totally wierd like.. half way up a mountain or something... somewhere where the electric board would have had to lay on special cabeling to reach... the cost of which is being recouped through this extra S.C?

(I have no idea I'm grasping at straws)

Hi Moromir,

Nope, it's not. It's actually located close to my block. It's a new energy centre they had to build which supplies electricity to all the new builds around the area.

Erisu

Ok so Countryside Properties have got back to me and have said this:

"The cost is charged as part of your annual costs and this covers the costs for operation and maintenance and includes all replacement plant as and when required due to wear and tear or when faulty to the whole of the district heating network, it also covers an annual service check on the heat interface unit within the apartment."

Does this sound fair? It sort of feels like a forced insurance scheme they're making everyone pay... One good news is that I can change my electricity provider at least BUT I will still need to pay for the energy centre service cost though.

tim123456789

do you not understand, or did you completely ignore the word "heating", here?

tim

Erisu

tim123456789 wrote: »

do you not understand, or did you completely ignore the word "heating", here?

tim

Got used to typing electricity until property developer told me it's for the heating centre.

So now I know it's for the heating centre, do new builds often have this?

tim123456789

Erisu wrote: »

Got used to typing electricity until property developer told me it's for the heating centre.

So now I know it's for the heating centre, do new builds often have this?

No they don't, but if this is a ground source heat pump, they are going to become much more common as developers have to meet stricter emission requirements for new-build, and this is one way to do it

you still need more info from the developer.