Bills inclusive private rented student accommodation question

swimbikerun100

My son will be moving in to his private rented student accommodation with 2 friends in July, prior to starting the second year of his degree in September. He has chosen a bills inclusive landlord and his contract states: The allowances are generous and it is unlikely you will exceed them if you are sensible with your energy consumption. We would also ask that your consider the environment as gas and electricity are finite resources and our inclusion of then in your package is in no way intended to encourage profligate use of energy.
The allowance for a 3 bed property with 3 tenants is £1490 total for all bills (water, energy, internet) for 52 weeks. I'm quite sure this will not cover them for their year and they will end up having to pay a surcharge (the amount of surcharge is not mentioned). Would you say we have any case for them to increase the allowance given they state fair usage - as obviously it won't cover fair usage? I know lots of parents are worried about this and the students seem to be falling through the gaps of all the support the government are offering. Any advice would be much appreciated.

MattMattMattUK

swimbikerun100 said:

My son will be moving in to his private rented student accommodation with 2 friends in July, prior to starting the second year of his degree in September. He has chosen a bills inclusive landlord and his contract states: The allowances are generous and it is unlikely you will exceed them if you are sensible with your energy consumption. We would also ask that your consider the environment as gas and electricity are finite resources and our inclusion of then in your package is in no way intended to encourage profligate use of energy.
The allowance for a 3 bed property with 3 tenants is £1490 total for all bills (water, energy, internet) for 52 weeks. I'm quite sure this will not cover them for their year and they will end up having to pay a surcharge (the amount of surcharge is not mentioned). Would you say we have any case for them to increase the allowance given they state fair usage - as obviously it won't cover fair usage?

I would say no, there is not. There is a monetary value stated and I suspect the further elements of the contract is written even more in the landlords favour. I am surprised that any landlord is still offering this kind of package as it will likely only lead to arguments in the future. 

swimbikerun100 said:

I know lots of parents are worried about this and the students seem to be falling through the gaps of all the support the government are offering. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Students are entitled to exactly the same kind of support as anyone else, which is not very much.

swimbikerun100

I read that households will be offered an energy bills rebate of up to £200 which would go to the landlord but is then be taken back from future years, so I'm not sure how that would work and which students would benefit? Warm home discounts won't apply as students don't qualify for UC. Finally council tax rebates won't apply as students don't pay council tax.
My son already gets the maximum student loan due to our low income, so I don't see how we can offer any more financial support than we do already.

Robin9

Depends on the LL  - your son may gain from this but next years tenants will be picking up the bill.

My advice to your son would be to read those meters at least every month and keep records.

MattMattMattUK

swimbikerun100 said:

I read that households will be offered an energy bills rebate of up to £200 which would go to the landlord but is then be taken back from future years, so I'm not sure how that would work and which students would benefit?

No one would benefit, the landlord would get the £200 loan-not-loan in October and will then have to pay it back in the future, it will be net zero benefit on the basis of energy bills (it will likely cost the taxpayer in the long run), no students will benefit, no students will loose out.

swimbikerun100 said:

Warm home discounts won't apply as students don't qualify for UC.

Warm home discount does not apply to me, or many others either.

swimbikerun100 said:

Finally council tax rebates won't apply as students don't pay council tax.

It would not matter that they are students and not paying council tax, if they are the main named person on the council tax bill in a band A-D property on the required date then they would get the £150 credit.

swimbikerun100 said:

My son already gets the maximum student loan due to our low income, so I don't see how we can offer any more financial support than we do already.

They key for most students, as it has always been apart from the few lucky enough to have very wealthy parents is to get a part time job, pretty much everyone I know who went to university, or is currently going to university (80% of the staff in the pub I drink in regularly are university students) works part time to help fund their studies, most of them around thirty hours a week, some of them more.

Gerry1

swimbikerun100 said:

I'm quite sure this will not cover them for their year and they will end up having to pay a surcharge (the amount of surcharge is not mentioned).

That sounds a hostage to fortune.  The landlord is not allowed to make a profit from the resale of energy, but checking and enforcing that might not be straightforward if you don't know the tariff and can't see the bills.  Water is easier to check because there's no choice of supplier, just remember to read the meter if there is one.  However, there's no advantage in having the landlord as a middleman (unless a student defaults), they might as well pay the water company directly.  Much the same for the internet, the presence of a middleman would make it harder to deal with unreliability, slow speeds, poor value etc.

Best find a different landlord.

swimbikerun100

Gerry1 said:

swimbikerun100 said:

I'm quite sure this will not cover them for their year and they will end up having to pay a surcharge (the amount of surcharge is not mentioned).

That sounds a hostage to fortune.  The landlord is not allowed to make a profit from the resale of energy, but checking and enforcing that might not be straightforward if you don't know the tariff and can't see the bills.  Water is easier to check because there's no choice of supplier, just remember to read the meter if there is one.  However, there's no advantage in having the landlord as a middleman (unless a student defaults), they might as well pay the water company directly.  Much the same for the internet, the presence of a middleman would make it harder to deal with unreliability, slow speeds, poor value etc.

Best find a different landlord.

Many thanks for your reply. Unfortunately in Durham there is a massive shortage of private rented accommodation this year, and this particular company has a large share of the market. They thought having bills included will help them budget. I'm in touch with them now to see if their statement and limits about 'fair usage' will still apply. I didn't know that they are not allowed to profit from the resale of energy so thanks for that, I wonder if the tenants are allowed to see the bills? I've never rented nor been a landlord so I'm just looking to see what their rights are really. Thanks again.

FreeBear

One question to ask - Is the gas/electric a domestic or commercial tariff ?

If the latter, the rates can be eye-wateringly expensive and are not subject to the OFGEM price cap.

Ant555

Is the allowance £1490 per student?

MWT

Ant555 said:

Is the allowance £1490 per student?

No, for the property as a whole, as per the first post...

swimbikerun100 said:

The allowance for a 3 bed property with 3 tenants is £1490 total for all bills (water, energy, internet) for 52 weeks.

jimjames

My son had an inclusive bills for his rented house at uni, I don't think there was any clause like this in the contract which was surprising. 

I'd question what the elements in that total break down to. Internet alone could be £40 per month so nearly £500 pa, water similar amount which only leaves £490 for the energy.

I guess it's useful to know that there is a contribution towards the bills but unless you know the split between them you are pretty much in the dark. There is also no incentive for the landlord to get a good deal if they can pass it all on. It's also entirely possible that the numbers in the contract have not updated year on year so will be vastly out of date now.