Tenant is disputing part of utility bill

diddy_p

Hello All
I need some advice on the following. I have BTL apartment that I have recently rented out. The 'Heat Energy' is supplied by a company called Murphy Young utilities and cannot be changed as they run the communal heat energy systems on the estate however each apartment has smart meters and as a result each apartment is billed accurately for usage.


The issue as stated by the tenant is that there are several other charges being added to the invoices which, in their opinion, are nothing to do with current bill payers (e.g. the tenant).



Examples of these additional charges are:



Operations & Maintenance

Sinking Fund

Management, Admin & Audit

Standing Charge

Unit Consumption



Both the Standing Charge and Unit Consumption would be the bill payers responsibility.



The managing ageng tells me that over time, several tenants have contacted them to complain and Landlords have agreed to reimburse their tenants for the other charges mentioned above, understanding that they are long term investments in the running, upkeep and maintenance of the equipment and future capital expenditure (sinking fund), which is not deemed tenants responsibility.

I have been a landlord on the same development before and didn't encounter this issue previously, but am not sure if I was lucky?

What are your thoughts here, MSE folk? Should I the landlord cover these additional items?

Cardew

IMO The charges are similar to a normal 'service charge' and as such would be the landlord's responsibility.

Gerry1

What does your tenants' lease say?

To whom do the tenants pay for their energy use?

diddy_p

Thanks for the replies. tenancy agreement says that tenant is responsible for payment of utility bills, I pay the ground rent and service, nothing more specific has been identified.

OR are you talking about the property lease?

markin

Its a maintenance charge not a usage so yes the owner of the flat that should pay it not the tenant.
You don't make them pay the building maintenance charge do you?

If it had a gas boiler you wouldn't charge them a Fee to use it and a sinking fund for its replacement would you?

diddy_p

Gotcha yep I can understand why this is seen as a maintenance charge as per the same as service charge and ground rent.

Standing charges though, surely tenant responsibility?

diddy_p

Sorry I meant management/audit? Presumably this covers the costs associated with raising the bills themselves?

Gerry1

I'm unclear exactly what Murphy are doing in your case. The fact that there are smart meters suggests that there are mains services available, that the energy supplier and tariff have been negotiated by Murphy and that they are being re-sold by Murphy (as opposed to a district heating scheme with insulated steam pipes or a big communal boiler in the basement deilivering CH and Constant Hot Water).

If they don't pay you directly for their energy, my guess would be that they are entitled to switch gas and electricity to the supplier(s) of their choice and that you cannot unreasonably prevent them from doing do.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/household-gas-and-electricity-guide/how-switch-energy-supplier-and-shop-better-deal/how-switch-energy-supplier-if-you-re-tenant

In other words, unless your agreement with the tenants has specifically locked them into using Murphy (assuming that's not considered to be an Unfair Contract) I suspect that they can do their own thing for gas and electricity and then pay you only the stated rent and not a penny more ! :eek:

markin

diddy_p wrote: »

Sorry I meant management/audit? Presumably this covers the costs associated with raising the bills themselves?

Billing just the usage would be pennies and i would think rolled into the Standing Charge, They don't hire a meter reader do they? Smart meters with auto billing?

diddy_p

Murphy Young are appointed by the freeholders, there are community heating centres on the site and a HIU unit is installed in each apartment as an interface to the communal system. Only by consent of the residents committee and managing agent/free holder can this supplier be changed (it has once, original supplier was Vital Energi).

The tenancy agreement is fairly generic but the letting agent let's and manages several properties on the development so that are familiar with this arrangement.

The usage charge on its own is pennies or a few quid per month

diddy_p

And yes billing and metering is fully electronic