Landlord rights to read tenants contracts with provider meters

scopio

I have lived in the same flat for 20 or more years and the landlord and myself read the gas, electricity and water meters when I first moved in. Now the landlord wants ro read my meters every time he wishes although the contract for the supply of gas, water and electricity is between myself and the provider.
Does the landlord have the right to read my meters? I find this a violation of my privacy.

JGB1955

He's not paying the bills - I would agree with you that it's none of his business,

[Deleted User]

 Nothing to do with him. If he's being pushy contact shelter for support 

Martin_the_Unjust

The first thing I would do would be to ask the landlord why he wants the readings.

Smodlet

Hello, scopio, and welcome.  Sorry for all the questions but are your utilities provided by some private company, perchance?  I understand this is the case on certain housing developments or in certain situations.

Has he given any reason for this?  Have you asked him?  Unless he has you tied in to some energy supplier from whom he receives a kickback, I fail to see why he would care.  I am sure you know you have no choice about your water authority/provider so fail to see how your water usage can possibly be any of his business.

I am not sure about legal rights but your entitlement to "quiet enjoyment" may come into play if he thinks he can just rock up and read your meters any time he likes.  With luck, some very knowledgeable posters will be along to help you soon; excuse me while I holler, won't you?

Notrouble, AdrianC, Cakeguts, artfull, pinkteapot/lady, y'all!

These guys are landlords (as far as one can tell on a forum) and very helpful to both other landlords (LLs) and to tenants.

scopio

My utilities are provided by the usual providers like Trent Water, Tonic for gas and electricity.
An answer given in another forum by a solicitor states "The Meters belong to the property and the landlord can take meter reading whenever necessary." which does not seem reasonable to me as I am the one who is in contract with the providers and I am the one who pays the bills.

princeofpounds

The landlord has a legal right to inspect the property (including the fixtures and fittings), with the appropriate notice. So he can read your meters if he wants to, and although he's technically not supposed to store the data no-one official is going to care about that. 

If you wanted to escalate, you can physically prevent him gaining access, but he can then go to court for an injunction and he would win. Or, just as likely, he could evict you at the end of your contract as that's simpler.

You are right in one way - the meter readings are not really his business, but that does not mean he cannot read them when he inspects the property.

But the problem here is that you are running into an antagonistic situation without any real attempt at mutual understanding. You clearly have no idea why the meter readings are important to him. Why don't you ask? He may well be under some kind of misconception but it would be better to discover this and talk about it than it would just to stonewall and risk the eventual termination of the tenancy.
Furthermore, why would you care so much about him reading the meters, apart from a general antipathy to having an inspection, I cannot conceive of any damage this would cause you. Certainly when I weigh up having to find somewhere new to live, with all the cost and hassle that involves, compared to permitting this... I can't see the sense in the trade-off personally.

Smodlet

Sorry, OP but, if it was on another forum, how do you know someone who said they were a solicitor actually is one?  This does not sound right to me.  Where are the LLs?

scopio

I do know that on the other forum is a solicitor as it was on a law website called Just Answers.UK where solicitors post their credentials.

Slithery

scopio said:

An answer given in another forum by a solicitor states "The Meters belong to the property and the landlord can take meter reading whenever necessary."

Nope. The meters belong to the utility provider, not the property.

[Deleted User]

@Slithery is absolutely right, the meters belong to the utility suppliers so this so called solicitor on Just Answers is talking out of his/her hoop.  The landlord could simply read the meters during an inspection but I have no idea why a landlord would want to do that other than at the start of the tenancy and at the end.  Perhaps you should just ask him?