Meters locked away?

samps1973

Hi

I'm buying a flat In a building with 15 flats. 

The flats only have electric and water meters.

When you enter the main building front door there are two large cupboards, one contains the electric smart meters for each flat and the other has the water meters.

Both the cupboards have them locks with numbers and letters that you press to open the door.

I spoke to another tenant and he said the landlord wont give him the codes to see the meters, however he does rent and isnt buying.

Is this common practice? The day I move in I want to take readings for both meters so that I'm only paying for what I've used and also I'd like to do regular readings for a while so I know what I'm using on average.

Are the landlords allowed to lock the meters away from a home buyer or should I have access to these codes?

It doesnt say anything in the lease about this.

Thank you

Zandoni

You may need to get advice about this, I'd imagine that as you are owner you should have access whenever you want, more importantly you should be able to turn off your gas supply when required.

Xbigman

Ask your lawyer to get the codes as part of the purchase. Its what you pay them for. If the building management company won't supply them that's a red flag. 


Darren

Gerry1

Having only electricity for heating would be a red flag for me.  What systems are used for room and water heating?  They are likely to be very expensive to run.

Insist on reading the meters yourself, otherwise you could be paying for previous use.

samps1973

Thanks for the replies.

@Gerry1 Yeah that's what I'm worried about, Its a new build and only has electricity throughout and the water is heated by immersion heater. Although it's a new build it was built a few years ago and I expect they've had a few viewings in that time with the lights on etc so yeah I want to see the readings myself on both meters. 

I am preparing to sign the contract and this is the only thing holding me back. I just sent the problem to my solicitor in an email.

The chap I spoke to at the property just pays whatever the water and electric company asks for and never checks the readings. Personally I like to know and be in control of the Bill's especially now the prices are through the roof. It'll be good to know what I'm using.

Thanks

Alderbank

samps1973, just use your IHD since you have said all the electricity meters are smart meters. I've not looked at my actual meters for years but I can see all the data I need on my IHD.

I have encountered your issue when I worked for Housing Associations in the days before smart meters. The reason why cupboards were locked was because some tenants' idea of fun was to switch other occupants' power off. If that happened to you e.g. while you were taking a shower and you had to run down to the basement to switch it back on you would be annoyed.

We employed caretakers who serviced the communal areas so I empowered them to open the cupboard under supervision for any tenant who wanted to read their meter. Could your building managers arrange something like that?

samps1973

@Alderbank

Thank you.

The flat I live in is on the 2nd floor so not sure if the IHD would work. I read they only work if the IHD is within 10m of the meter but not sure.

I've not had a smart meter before, I thought the IHD just tells you what you use daily. Does it show the current meter reading in the meter so you can work out what youve used?

A few years back I used to put the old type of meter reading onto a website and it would tell me what I've used so far.

Things like this wouldnt normally bother me but with a new mortgage and the current prices it would be good to keep an eye on my usage for the first year or so until things settle down.

Thanks 👍

jbuchanangb

You are right to insist that you can read your meter yourself. Another thing to look out for is that the meter which you are told, and which may indeed be labelled as, is yours. It is not uncommon for meters to be misallocated in blocks of flats like yours. When you have access to the meter, turn on high powered appliances in your flat and make sure that the meter which you think is yours is going bananas. If not, look at all the others and find out which one is. That will be the one really connected to your flat.

[Deleted User]

Sounds like the meters are 'suite meters', they allow landlords to bill each tenant fairly for exactly the energy consumed. Then landlords don't have to waste time manually breaking down one bill. Consequently, this helps reduce landlord-tenant disputes by providing accurate and precise information.

QrizB

Deleted_User said:

Sounds like the meters are 'suite meters', they allow landlords to bill each tenant fairly for exactly the energy consumed. Then landlords don't have to waste time manually breaking down one bill. Consequently, this helps reduce landlord-tenant disputes by providing accurate and precise information.

Even if true, the OP isn't a tenant with a landlord; they are going to be a leaseholder, responsible for their own electricity account with their a supplier.

Olinda99

One way would be to call the electricity company and ask them what the meter reading is - they will know as you have smart meters.

Also, you should be be able to see meter readings, daily usage etc when you log onto your online electricity account. So there may be no need to view the actual physical meters.