First rented apartment - Electricity 29p per kwh

badogblue

I'm new to all this so hoping someone can help me out.

I'm moving out to my first rented apartment and on the tenancy agreement it says that electricity will be charged at 29p per kwh.

This seems very high (double the average). At my parents house they only pay 12p. How can the landlord be charging this much?

I've looked up on citizensadvice and it says that max electricity price I can be charged is unit price + standing charge + 5% vat. Whatever way i calculate it though I can't get anywhere near 29p.

Summary

• electricity will be charged at 29p per kwh
• electricity is charged at a commercial rate
• apartment is located in Northern Ireland
• apartment is self-contained, 1 of 5 in a converted house

Please help. Thanks.

System

badogblue wrote: »

I'm new to all this so hoping someone can help me out.

I'm moving out to my first rented apartment and on the tenancy agreement it says that electricity will be charged at 29p per kwh.

This seems very high (double the average). At my parents house they only pay 12p. How can the landlord be charging this much?

I've looked up on citizensadvice and it says that max electricity price I can be charged is unit price + standing charge + 5% vat. Whatever way i calculate it though I can't get anywhere near 29p.

Summary

• electricity will be charged at 29p per kwh
• electricity is charged at a commercial rate
• apartment is located in Northern Ireland
• apartment is self-contained, 1 of 5 in a converted house

Please help. Thanks.

Hi - welcome to the forum. You may be comparing apples and oranges. The clue might be in the word ‘commercial’.

badogblue

Hengus wrote: »

Hi - welcome to the forum. You may be comparing apples and oranges. The clue might be in the word ‘commercial’.

I've looked up commercial/business prices and they are not 29p.

Rates seem to be around: 11.8p - 13p per unit + 24p - 26p standing charge per day.

Even if you combine the above, the price would be around 17p per unit (based on 2500 kwh/year)

System

badogblue wrote: »

I've looked up commercial/business prices and they are not 29p.

Rates seem to be around: 11.8p - 13p per unit + 24p - 26p standing charge per day.

Even if you combine the above, the price would be around 18p per unit (based on 2500 kwh/year)

Without more information, we can only guess what is happening. What is the source of the electricity: for example, properties heated by a district heating scheme (whilch can include electricity produced by the heating system) are more expensive as the cost charged includes initial build, ongoing maintenance and replacement.

If you think that you are being overcharged then seek advice from Citizens Advice on how to take this forward. What do your co-tenants think about it?

This is CA England’s Advice:

If you’ve been overcharged

If you think your landlord has overcharged you, ask them for a copy of the bill and ask them to explain how they worked out the charges.

If they’ve charged you more than the maximum resale price, you can ask them to:

lower the charge to the correct amount

refund you the difference if you’ve already paid

If you can’t resolve the dispute, you can try to get the money by bringing a claim against your landlord in the small claims court for the amount you’ve been overcharged plus interest.

footyguy

badogblue wrote: »

I'm new to all this so hoping someone can help me out.

I'm moving out to my first rented apartment and on the tenancy agreement it says that electricity will be charged at 29p per kwh.

This seems very high (double the average). At my parents house they only pay 12p. How can the landlord be charging this much?

I've looked up on citizensadvice and it says that max electricity price I can be charged is unit price + standing charge + 5% vat. Whatever way i calculate it though I can't get anywhere near 29p.

Summary

• electricity will be charged at 29p per kwh
• electricity is charged at a commercial rate
• apartment is located in Northern Ireland
• apartment is self-contained, 1 of 5 in a converted house

Please help. Thanks.

That's a very good price! :money:

Here in England, were forced to pay a lot more than that.

Can I ask who supplies your parents, please?

footyguy

badogblue wrote: »

I've looked up commercial/business prices and they are not 29p.

Rates seem to be around: 11.8p - 13p per unit + 24p - 26p standing charge per day.

...

Where did you find these prices?

Have you asked your landlord if he will move to these lower rates you have found?

Robin9

There's more to it than what the landlord may or may not pay - he is entitled to include the cost of maintaining the equipment within the premises.

I pay a commercial rate for a building and that 13p/unit plus 40p/day plus 20% vat