Utility bills - leaving tenancy early

rev_henry

Moving house very shortly and leaving our rented flat around 2/3 weeks earlier than the end of the tenancy agreement.

Landlord has sent me an email insinuating that I am liable for the utility bills/council tax etc until the end date of the tenancy.

Is this correct?

I've always simply given meter readings to the utility companies and told them the date I left and that's been it. How can I give meter reads up until the end date when I'm not there?

mrginge

You are responsible up until your tenancy agreement ends.

rev_henry

The utility company has a form which simply asks for the date you moved out, and the Council say something similar. So why or how am I liable?

ellie27

We moved out of our rental on 20th June and our contract ends 9th January 2016! Luckily landlord allowed us to break out the contract early, 7th August - just 7 weeks to pay!

We are liable for rent/bills/council tax until end of contract. We have only moved a couple miles though so getting meter readings on 7th August is no bother.

We have been lucky to claim council tax exemption though as the house is unfurnished and unoccupied.

AdrianC

rev_henry wrote: »

How can I give meter reads up until the end date when I'm not there?

You go back round there and read them. Or you ask the landlord, nicely, if he'd mind doing it for you.

The landlord cannot enter the property without your agreement before the tenancy ends - you still have possession. Let's suppose you wanted to be a git, and turned every heater and the cooker on full blast. Who'd be responsible for the electricity?

G_M

If you are ending your tenancy via an 'Early Surrender' which your landlord has accepted, then the tenancy ends, and so do all your related obligations: rent; utilities; security etc

If your tenany continues to the contractually agreed end date, but you just happen to have decided to move out, go on holiday, whatever, then you obligations continue until the end date.

binerds81

Hi there,

I think they are right in that you are 'responsible' for the bills but that doesn't mean there should be any to pay if you've moved out. If you take meter readings and contact the utilities companies to say the date you're moving out and the final reading then as long as everything is switched off you should not have any more bills. The same as council tax, you just write and say you've moving out and they recalculate your bill until that date no need to pay when you're not there, especially if you are registering yourself at another address.

If the landlord is letting you leave early by agreement and you are handing back the keys early then they should witness the meter readings and take responsibility from there - they may let it back out earlier than the end of your contract.

However if you are retaining the keys and have paid rent until the end of contract then you are keeping possession so you will need to revisit on the last day just to check that the meter readings haven't changed

At least, that's how it's worked for me before!

mrginge

It's not a hard concept to grasp.
If your tenancy ends on the 10th and you leave on the 10th, then you are liable to the 10th.
If your tenancy ends on the 10th and you leave on the 3rd, then you are liable to the 10th.

rev_henry

AdrianC wrote: »

You go back round there and read them. Or you ask the landlord, nicely, if he'd mind doing it for you.

The landlord cannot enter the property without your agreement before the tenancy ends - you still have possession. Let's suppose you wanted to be a git, and turned every heater and the cooker on full blast. Who'd be responsible for the electricity?

I'm not driving 70 miles just to read some meters. I hear what you're saying, but that is not going to happen as I'll be giving the keys back early.
No early surrender agreement as such. I've paid rent until the end date, just will be giving the keys back early.

Why then do the utility companies just ask me what date I moved out?What I've always thought to happen was for tenant number 1 to close an account, tenant 2 to open a new account a couple of weeks later and the small amount of energy consumed in the meantime to be disregarded. Is this incorrect?

G_M

rev_henry wrote: »

What I've always thought to happen was for tenant number 1 to close an account, tenant 2 to open a new account a couple of weeks later and the small amount of energy consumed in the meantime to be disregarded. Is this incorrect?

Yes. Incorrect.

* Tenant number 2 cannot start a tenancy and/or move in till your tenancy ends.

* The landlord cannot enter without good reason till the tenancy ends (it's still 'your' property). Indeed if he did he could be charged with illegal eviction. Crazy I know, since you have left, but the law is there to protect tenants from LLs 'assuming' a tenant has left and taking over the property prematurely.

* Utility comanies do not disregard usage.

* if there is a gap between your tenancy ending (I mean properly, not just you moving out) and tenant 2 moving in, the landlord is responsible for the utilities.

* Neither the LL, not the utiity companies, can be sure how much usage mght add up between you 'moving out' and your tenancy ends - as AdrianC said above, you might leave the heating switched on, the lights on etc . So the 'small amount' of usage might actually be a 'big amount'. Who knows?

If you really can't get back to read the meters, then either ask a friend/neighbour to read them for you, or rely on the landlord.

A couple of related points:

1) you are also responsible for security etc till the tenancy ends

2) your tenancy agreement may require certain actions (eg drain down the heating system) if you leave the property 'unoccupied' for 30 (45? 60?) days. This is because the landlord's insurer requires it. If you don't, the LL cannot claim on his insurance if there is a problem. Have a look at your contract

DaftyDuck

Remember, a large number of utilities have a daily standing charge, as well as metered usage. Tenant responsible for both parts of billing until end of tenancy.