Surface water 15 June 2016 at 3:19PM in Water bills 4 replies 3.3K views

ronta1

Hi All,
Newbie here. I have a question about surface water charges. I've noticed that included in the fixed charge is a charge for surface water, in my case £12.51. I live in a house that is split into two flats. One ground floor, one first floor. Should the surface water charge not be devided equally between the two flats, and if so can I claim it back to when I moved in 9 years ago?
Thanks for any help received.

HappyMJ

ronta1 wrote: »

Hi All,
Newbie here. I have a question about surface water charges. I've noticed that included in the fixed charge is a charge for surface water, in my case £12.51. I live in a house that is split into two flats. One ground floor, one first floor. Should the surface water charge not be devided equally between the two flats, and if so can I claim it back to when I moved in 9 years ago?
Thanks for any help received.

No it's not split. It's a charge per property.

We have 12 flats in our building and the water company gets 12 times £33.08 instead of 4 times £80.70 had they been built as 4 small detached houses or 6 times £56.99 had they been built as 3 pairs of semi detached houses.

I am billed by South Staffs Water.

ronta1

Thanks for your quick reply HappyMJ, but I think you are referring to the fixed charges. My fixed charge is similar to yours, £34.03. My question is regarding the charge for surface water (in effect, rain water) which is a part of the fixed charge. I realise that the fixed, or standing charge is per property, but since this is a converted house with two flats sharing the same roof, shouldn't the surface charge be split?

Cardew

The method of charging for Surface water drainage differs according to the company. The only thing they have in common is they are all equally stupid.

I am afraid you could live in a 50 storey block of flats - 4 flats per floor - and all 200 flats would pay the same; even a penthouse covering two complete storeys woul pay the same as the smallest flat.

Some charge different rates(e.g. Severn Trent) for flat/Tce, Semi det and Detached. So, say, a house like 10 Downing street* with 80+ rooms but terraced, would pay much less than a 1 bed bungalow!

deanos

if it has been split then it is now 2 properties so 2x charges