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Landlord charging incorrectly for bills + deposit issue
martinlewisjunior
Posts: 94 Forumite
Hi,
My girlfriend lives in a 7 bed student accommodation with other friends from her course.
The house comes with bills included. At £5 per person, per week. (For Gas, Electric, Water)
The house itself is an old victorian house. So large rooms and can get quite cold.
With this the house has gone over their bills, the landlord came back saying that each person owed £382. Which would come out of their £400 deposit.
To begin with the landlord provided no evidence of how they had gone over. So the house requested the statements with the usage from their time in the property. The landlord continued to be unhappy about this request, until one of the housemates threatened court actioned.
The landlord gave in and provided some of the statements.
The statements showed:
- Water bill for the entire year
- Gas and Electric for the second half of the year.
- Direct debit statements for the first half of the year
The issue they found was the evidence provided didn't add up to £382.
One final attempt at clearing up the statements and landlord wasn't able to provide any clear evidence.
After this I took in my own hands to contact all the suppliers the landlord had used with over the duration , I explained the situation and they provided ALL the statements for the entire year.
As I thought I knew they had gone over on their bills but not by what the landlord had mentioned.
Each person had gone over by £230.11pp and not £382!
Now my first question is, can I take this evidence to the DTS agency, as the deposit is protected?
My second question is, some of the students in the house have stayed in the house for a second year.
They have already signed and their contract started in July. Last week the 18th September, the landlord has requested for an additional deposit. As people staying on for their second year don't have a full deposit.
However their contract's have been signed, and from the landlords point of view and estate agent (In July) Everything was ok, Can the landlord request for more money?
If anyone can help, that would be fantastic!
*additional note, in the contract there is no statement at all saying they'd be charged a fee for going over on their bills.
Thanks
MSM
My girlfriend lives in a 7 bed student accommodation with other friends from her course.
The house comes with bills included. At £5 per person, per week. (For Gas, Electric, Water)
The house itself is an old victorian house. So large rooms and can get quite cold.
With this the house has gone over their bills, the landlord came back saying that each person owed £382. Which would come out of their £400 deposit.
To begin with the landlord provided no evidence of how they had gone over. So the house requested the statements with the usage from their time in the property. The landlord continued to be unhappy about this request, until one of the housemates threatened court actioned.
The landlord gave in and provided some of the statements.
The statements showed:
- Water bill for the entire year
- Gas and Electric for the second half of the year.
- Direct debit statements for the first half of the year
The issue they found was the evidence provided didn't add up to £382.
One final attempt at clearing up the statements and landlord wasn't able to provide any clear evidence.
After this I took in my own hands to contact all the suppliers the landlord had used with over the duration , I explained the situation and they provided ALL the statements for the entire year.
As I thought I knew they had gone over on their bills but not by what the landlord had mentioned.
Each person had gone over by £230.11pp and not £382!
Now my first question is, can I take this evidence to the DTS agency, as the deposit is protected?
My second question is, some of the students in the house have stayed in the house for a second year.
They have already signed and their contract started in July. Last week the 18th September, the landlord has requested for an additional deposit. As people staying on for their second year don't have a full deposit.
However their contract's have been signed, and from the landlords point of view and estate agent (In July) Everything was ok, Can the landlord request for more money?
If anyone can help, that would be fantastic!
*additional note, in the contract there is no statement at all saying they'd be charged a fee for going over on their bills.
Thanks
MSM
0
Comments
-
Is there a clause in the contract that says they have to pay any amounts over the £5 a week? If that is the amount the LL told them covered all costs then its their problems if there is a shortage....
**Sorry missed the bit at the bottom. In that case i'd tell the LL to go swivel0 -
Just to confirm.
Do the tenants have separate tenancy agreements?
Were the deposits protected under individual names?
If there is nothing in the tenancy agreements about paying extra utility bills then the landlord cannot charge them extra. Please quote exactly what is says about utility bills.0 -
martinlewisjunior wrote: »The house comes with bills included. - so included in the rent?
At £5 per person, per week. (For Gas, Electric, Water) - so not included, but a fixed £5 charge
..
*additional note, in the contract there is no statement at all saying they'd be charged a fee for going over on their bills. - well the LL isn't charging a fee, they're charging the actual bills (when its calculated correctly). What does 'going over' mean and does it say the tenants can't (in which case breaching this would incur damages to the value of the extra usage)
What exactly does the contract say regarding rent & bills..
- included in rent?
- fixed price e.g. £5 a month?
- any 'fair usage' or similar limits?
- bills paid 'together with' rent ie paid to LL not direct to suppliers, but the amount is still based on usage.
- something else..martinlewisjunior wrote: »My second question is, some of the students in the house have stayed in the house for a second year.
They have already signed and their contract started in July. Last week the 18th September, the landlord has come back with a request for an additional deposit. As people staying on for their second year don't have a full deposit.
However their contract's have been signed, and from the landlords point of view and estate agent (In July) Everything was ok, Can the landlord request for more money?
What does the second contract say about how much the deposit is? The original deposit should be returned in full less deductions and a full new deposit should be paid. If the new contract says that a deposit of £x should be paid, the new set of tenants are jointly and severally liable to pay this and I think the LL can sue for this. Whether they'd bother / be successful before it's time to return the deposit after a year is another story..0 -
If the landlord has decided to charge £5 a week for all bills, with no clause about what is 'appropriate usage' or setting out what the charges are for going over, then that is his problem, not the tenants.
Ignore it completely, just make sure the tenants all have a copy of the contract.0 -
Super quick reply from everyone. Thank you
I will scan in the contract for last year and this year.
I will also do a breakdown of all the questions once I know the answers.
Thanks
MSM0 -
What is the exact wording in the tenancy agreement(s) regarding bills?0
-
What exactly does the contract say regarding rent & bills..
- included in rent?
- fixed price e.g. £5 a month?
- any 'fair usage' or similar limits?
- bills paid 'together with' rent ie paid to LL not direct to suppliers, but the amount is still based on usage.
- something else..
What does the second contract say about how much the deposit is? The original deposit should be returned in full less deductions and a full new deposit should be paid. If the new contract says that a deposit of £x should be paid, the new set of tenants are jointly and severally liable to pay this and I think the LL can sue for this. Whether they'd bother / be successful before it's time to return the deposit after a year is another story..What is the exact wording in the tenancy agreement(s) regarding bills?Red-Squirrel wrote: »If the landlord has decided to charge £5 a week for all bills, with no clause about what is 'appropriate usage' or setting out what the charges are for going over, then that is his problem, not the tenants.
Ignore it completely, just make sure the tenants all have a copy of the contract.
And on the last page it states
The deposit is joint
I will confirm with my girlfriend how her deposit is protected, whether it is joint together as mentioned in the contractpmlindyloo wrote: »Just to confirm.
Do the tenants have separate tenancy agreements?
Were the deposits protected under individual names?
If there is nothing in the tenancy agreements about paying extra utility bills then the landlord cannot charge them extra. Please quote exactly what is says about utility bills.0 -
The agreement seems quite clear that they are liable for anything over the £5 a week?0
-
Sorry missed a bit before posting.
Why don't they just pay the difference rather than rely on the deposit?
Obviously needs to be based on real bills. Unless there is something else int the tenant which states a charge payable to the landlord for going over.0 -
It looks like they are liable then, but only for the actual costs of gas and electric (not water or anything else) divided by the number of tenants, not a figure dreamed up by the landlord.0
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