Electricity meter located inside another building

SouthCoastSkies

I'm in the process of trying to purchase a new build freehold property. It's an odd little place, the nearest I can describe it is it's a 1 bed semi-detached bungalow built, seemingly, in the back garden of some shops that front onto the road.

As part of the property information details, the vendor notes that the electricity meter is located inside the communal hallway to the flats above/also behind the shops, and the gas meter in an external courtyard to these same properties. The freehold bungalow is physically separate from these flats.

I've asked my solicitor to inquire about this, but I was hoping whether anyone else had come across a similar situation before ?
TIA :beer:

martindow

Are you sharing meters with another house or shop or flat? This could be very tricky in apportioning bills. If metering is separated there is less of a problem but there has been a recent thread with someone struggling to access meter readings fore their flat as the meters are in a locked cupboard in the communal area.

Has your house been built officially with planning permission, etc.? It does sound rather like someone creating a house under the radar.

G_M

Doubtless your conveyancer will ensure that your property has a ROA (Right of Access) to the relevant part(s) of the other property.

If that is so, AND the meters are unique to your property (not shared), then whilst it may be a bit inconvenient, it should ot be a problem.

You may find this thread nteresting though.......!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5477151

eddddy

So it sounds like you will be responsible for underground cables and pipes. Obviously, if these have been laid properly there should be no problems for many, many years.

But if there is a problem, accessing them will be expensive.

And if the gas pipe should fracture at some point in the future (due to ground movement, frost etc), you might run up a massive gas bill before anybody notices.

But unless the work was done by cowboys, that's unlikely.

SouthCoastSkies

martindow wrote: »

Are you sharing meters with another house or shop or flat? This could be very tricky in apportioning bills. If metering is separated there is less of a problem but there has been a recent thread with someone struggling to access meter readings fore their flat as the meters are in a locked cupboard in the communal area.

Has your house been built officially with planning permission, etc.? It does sound rather like someone creating a house under the radar.

I don't think that it's a shared, or a sub meter. From what I can gather (at the moment via the EA- who obviously has a vested interest!), the back of some shops were redeveloped into flats initially, then this new build "bungalow" was built next to them a couple of years later. The electricity meter runs from the communal area of these flats to the bungalow. Quite why a meter wasn't added during construction of the new building I don't know & is something the vendor hasn't answered informally. There was approval of a planning application (although approval was for a studio, not a 1-bed as built), and I've contacted my local planning dept to see if they can dig out any documentation about why the set up is this way

G_M wrote: »

Doubtless your conveyancer will ensure that your property has a ROA (Right of Access) to the relevant part(s) of the other property.

If that is so, AND the meters are unique to your property (not shared), then whilst it may be a bit inconvenient, it should ot be a problem.

You may find this thread nteresting though.......!

URL removed as I'm a new user

Yes, that link nicely summarises my concerns ! The EA was very dismissive & just almost refused to believe there was an issue. I'm worried that access to this item that is specifically there for the benefit of the new build property could be, on a practical level, difficult. Even if relations were good between managing agent/freeholder of the flats & the owner of the bungalow, getting access to the meter requires more forethought & negotiation than simply popping your head under your own understairs cupboard & reading the numbers off if the meter was within your own boundaries ! And that's if relations are good, as that thread showed clearly, things can sour really quickly between two parties

eddddy wrote: »

So it sounds like you will be responsible for underground cables and pipes. Obviously, if these have been laid properly there should be no problems for many, many years.

But if there is a problem, accessing them will be expensive.

And if the gas pipe should fracture at some point in the future (due to ground movement, frost etc), you might run up a massive gas bill before anybody notices.

But unless the work was done by cowboys, that's unlikely.

that's a very good point, thank you. I had been thinking about the situation from the point of view of access & what it means for the freehold title. i'd not thought of this other issue !


I've talked to the EA this morning, who was more than dismissive of my concerns. He just refused to accept there was any sort of reason for me to worry (I do realise though that his interests lie in getting the place sold!), so your replies have reassured me that there IS an issue & that I am going to have to be very cautious about this particular property. Please keep the advice coming !

G_M

Pointless discussing with the agent

1) he does not know the answer

2) he does not care about anything except keeping the sale (and his commission) on track

3) he's not a legally qualified person who cannot help with legal issues eg ROA

This should be dealt with by your conveyancer.

SouthCoastSkies

Absolutely agree, which is exactly what I was doing. I've decided to walk away from this one, just the practical issues on meter reading alone means it's all a bit messy, let alone the legal ramifications of having a meter physically located in another building...

Thank you all for your advice, I really do appreciate it.

giraffe69

How about seeing if the vendor will agree to move the meters or offer a reduction to pay for it?

SouthCoastSkies

Thanks Giraffe, we did try suggesting that a day or so ago, but they came back with a no. It's a new build, so for whatever reason was built this way, and something he doesn't feel is worth considering.