Sub-meter in rental property

ventriloquistdummy

I have recently moved into a new rental property which is a flat in a small block of 4. The energy is provided via prepay meters in each of the flats. During the viewing, all I was told was that the flat had a prepay meter and that I could top-up via an app. Upon moving in, as normal, I asked the landlord for the details of the energy supplier so that I could switch tariff. On this, the tenancy agreement states that I am able to change supplier, but I must ask the landlords permission who can not withhold permission "unreasonably". I had already found some decent tariffs (though of course more expensive than I'm used to due to being prepay), however when I asked the landlord about switching, the landlord explained that the current provider is NPower and that the 4 flats have sub-meters and therefore all of the flats must have the same supplier. 

The flat is electric only and has an Economy 7 meter. The current tariff has a standing charge of 48p (!) per day and a day rate charge of 25p with night rate being 18p. Hence why I wanted to change as they are far, far higher than I had expected and have ever paid in the past. Is it "reasonable" for the landlord to have me on such an expensive tariff because "all the flats have to have the same supplier". Presumably the other 3 tenants are paying the same rates so I cannot understand why the landlord wouldn't just switch? When I asked this I was told that they were "renegotiating the tariff" with NPower. 

Also, the meter is topped up via a top-up company who charge the landlord subscription fees of appx £66 per flat. They suggest on their website that landlords can pass this charge onto tenants as part of the standing charge, which could explain why the standing charge is 48p per day. I was under the impression that under the Maximum Resale Price Provisions, landlords are not allowed to charge tenants for fees associated with running this operation. It states: "the reseller is not entitled to recover the costs of running his or her own electricity or gas system through the charges which are made for gas and electric. These are separate from the resale costs - they are costs which the reseller incurs in maintaining his property and administering his own contracts with purchases."

Given that I would not have rented this flat had I been made aware of this material condition would have meant I wouldn't have rented the flat to begin with. 

ventriloquistdummy

Apologies, the last sentence doesn't make sense - it was supposed to be a question regarding the legality of landlords / letting agents withholding information about the sub-meter arrangement and not including it in the tenancy agreement. 
I should also add that on top of the suspected admin charge making up the standing charge, when I top-up via the app, I also pay them an admin fee directly. For example, if I top up £5, they actually charge me £5.17

binao

Have a chat with your neighbours (3).

Picture or description of main incoming  cables /fuses would help.

Looks like landlord resale at arms length. App company.

Contact Npower direct.

Good luck.

MWT

Frustrating as it is, I would plan to move out ASAP.

Clearly the terms of the electricity supply have been misrepresented in the information given to you and in the tenancy agreement.

What you describe does not sound likely to be legal but you'll spend far too much time trying to resolve this down that path...

dogshome

Seems that the Landlord has sold off, (Kick-back on the billing?), both the supply and billing to a 3rd party agency - Do you know the name of the company supplying the App ?

Landlords are barred from marking up profit on sub-meters - Trouble is there isn't any one policing it - but by appointing a 3rd party it isn't the Landlord charging high prices, it's the supplier.

Best advice is to sit out the lease term, and then MOVE OUT

Talldave

I think you should give the letting agents hell. They've used a plain vanilla tenancy agreement without disclosing the real situation - that's misrepresentation. Maybe consult Citizens Advice or your own solicitor if a tentative enquiry doesn't cost?

MWT

For something like this, you may find that Shelter is more help than CAB, particularly for exploring the ability to end the tenancy early due to the misrepresentation. 

ventriloquistdummy

Thank you all for the helpful replies. I have spoken to NPower who say that they only have one Standard tariff for prepay meters and the standing charge is 28p so it looks like my suspicion that the landlord has hiked the standing charge by 20p a day to cover the subscription to the meter company may be correct. The legality of this looks to me to be highly questionable. Omitting all of this material information before the signing of the tenancy agreement appears to be against consumer protection legislation.

In reply to dogshome, the app company used is called topupmeters.co.uk. I don't have any intention of sitting out a 12 month contract paying these extortionate energy prices either!