District heating standing charge: landlord or tenant?

MerchantMariner

We've just moved in to a new build which is serviced by a district heating scheme run by e.on. This comes with a hefty £400/yr standing charge which covers maintenance (of the system as a whole and of our individual heat interface unit), insurance etc and ca. 6p per unit usage fee.

I was just wondering how people in the same situation have handled this, as traditionally the maintenance of the heating system would be the landlord's responsibility, but here it's part of the utility bill. We have approached our agent to request that the landlord pay the full standing charge. Is this reasonable?

G_M

What does your tenancy agreement say?

You did read it before signing, yes?

MerchantMariner

It's a standard agreement that makes no mention of heating standing charge. It does include the usual part about the landlord being responsible for maintenance. If it was entirely black and white I would not be asking the question. I'm sure many will agree that this is quite a grey area and a relatively recent problem as such schemes gain popularity.

AdrianC

I'm not sure I'd say £33/month for provision, maintenance and insurance of the heating system - together with low usage charges - was "hefty".

If the tenancy makes no mention, then I'd assume it fell into the same category as the fixed element of other utility bills - ie, the tenant's responsibility.

G_M

MerchantMariner wrote: »

It's a standard agreement that makes no mention of heating standing charge. It does include the usual part about the landlord being responsible for maintenance. If it was entirely black and white I would not be asking the question. I'm sure many will agree that this is quite a grey area and a relatively recent problem as such schemes gain popularity.

It is surprising if it says nothing about utilities at all. Forget 'standing charges'. What wording does it have??

MerchantMariner

AdrianC wrote: »

I'm not sure I'd say £33/month for provision, maintenance and insurance of the heating system - together with low usage charges - was "hefty".

If the tenancy makes no mention, then I'd assume it fell into the same category as the fixed element of other utility bills - ie, the tenant's responsibility.

So why should I be responsible for what you call the provision, maintenance and insurance of the heating system when the landlord is responsible for the maintenance of items such as boilers under the contract? Just because it's packaged up with the usage charges?

silvercar

AIUI this system also gives you a more economic use of power, saving you about 15% on what normal bills would be.

I'm in two minds who should pay, as the landlord is contracted to pay it even if the property was empty. On the other hand you get the benefit of lower energy bills.

G_M

This is all speculation till we get the wording in the contract.

MerchantMariner

The landlord agrees with the tenant as follows:

- to insure the premises and the fixtures and fittings specified in the checkin inventory to their full value...
- to keep in repair and proper working order all mechanical and electrical items ... belonging to the landlord

It is mutually agreed as follows:
- This agreement will take effect subject to the provisions of s. 11 to 16 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 which imposes on the landlord obligations to repair ... certain installations for the supply of water, electricity and sanitation (including ... for space heating or heating water)

The tenant agrees to:
- arrange for the electricity gas and telephone services (as available to the premises) to be immediately transferred into the tenants name ... And to pay ...

No mention of paying for district heating. But then we have called them up to transfer into our name already.

G_M

OK, I see what you mean.

Trying to anticipate how a court would interpret liability in this case is hard. My guess is the judge would say the LL is responsible for the maintenance element of the annual charge and the tenant responsible for the usage/heat.

That begs the question, how to divide up those elemants. I imagine only the district supplier can answer that.

On the other hand, my reaction is that £400 pa is not actually a huge charge, is it?

MerchantMariner

For a two bedroom flat it seems high, considering its a very warm and well insulated flat. While I can see us using the heating perhaps in the depths of winter, I can see our main use being hot water.

It's also not so much about the cost as the principle I suppose. We really like the flat and don't want to rock the boat, so we're unlikely to go as far as court with this, but we have sent a polite email to the agent. Just wanted to see what the general opinion was, and, with the rising popularity of such schemes where there is no competition between suppliers, to perhaps raise some awareness.