Landlord stopping smart meter

_Penny_Dreadful

wild666 said:

Just wait until they contact saying the meter has come to its end of life then the landlord won't have any option but to have the meters changed.
15 years ago I moved into a flat and there was two energy suppliers and I changed the electric over to BG. If you are the one paying the bills then you should have the right to change suppliers. It should be the same with a meter change if the tenant wants smart meters then they should be able to install them without any notification to the landlord. The only problem would be if the old meters are prepayment and they change them for credit meters maybe the landlord wanted prepayment meters in the property so that the tenants couldn't move out and owe hundreds or thousands of pounds in electric and gas bills!

Utility bills are between the account holder (tenant) and the supplier. It has nothing to do with the landlord if the tenant doesn’t pay their utility bills. As a landlord you make sure you take meter readings at the start of the tenancy and at the end of the tenancy leaving the utility company to chase the tenant should there be any unpaid bills. Some smart meters let you switch between prepayment and regular meters without the need for any additional hardware to be installed. 

_Penny_Dreadful

Jackie1813 said:

The meter is not in the property it is in the grounds and SSE are insisting they have the right to change it . The tenancy agreement only states she cannot change supplier.

As the account holder your daughter has the right to change utility suppliers if she so wishes. The landlord cannot prevent a tenant from changing utility supplier. https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/tenants-energy-rights-explained

Jackie1813 said:

Thank you so much for all your responses. The landlords property manager believes smart meters are a hazard and as he believes this, so does the landlord.
Thanks again.

I seriously doubt the property manager is even remotely qualified to make that assessment. In your daughter’s shoes I’d have the meter change, change utility supplier if I wanted and I wouldn’t bother informing the landlord or his property manager as it will only stir up trouble. Kick the can down the road.

Mstty

You have to weigh up the options and consequences like so many other things in life.

Does your daughter want to rent the property for a long time/are there similar properties locally to rent if the landlord and property manager take exception.

It's ok everyone saying just do it (they are correct nothing the property manager or landlord can do) but when is your daughter's current tenancy up? They don't have to renew it if there has been a falling out.

EssexHebridean

⬆️⬆️⬆️

Plus one for this - 
life isn’t always about what we “have the right to do” but also about striking a balance with not making life uncomfortable further down the road. 

If the property manager and landlord are believing the conspiracy theorists - and we have recently seen on here the harm they can do - then charging ahead and doing it anyway is a sure fire way to cause conflict. If the supplier can be encouraged to say that the meter HAS to be changed however, that could well solve the issue. 

Sometimes it’s necessary to look beyond the legalities and rights, and consider the human aspect.

_Penny_Dreadful

Mstty said:

You have to weigh up the options and consequences like so many other things in life.

Does your daughter want to rent the property for a long time/are there similar properties locally to rent if the landlord and property manager take exception.

It's ok everyone saying just do it (they are correct nothing the property manager or landlord can do) but when is your daughter's current tenancy up? They don't have to renew it if there has been a falling out.

How would they know during the tenancy? This is the kind of thing that will come to light at the end of the tenancy once the OP’s daughter is leaving the property and as has been said in this thread already the landlord doesn’t actually own the meter. 

As a landlord I wouldn’t know which utility supplier my tenants are using throughout the tenancy unless I actively went looking, which I wouldn’t. Then again I wouldn’t stop a smart meter from being fitted.  Sometimes for tenants, when dealing with landlords like this once it’s easier to ask forgiveness at the end of the tenancy than seek permission. 

t0rt0ise

The point is that the landlord need not know. I wouldn't have told the landlord in the first place but now that's been done I'd just say "ok fair enough" and do it anyway. Chances are when the landlord looks at the meter at the end of the tenancy, they won't know it's a smart meter anyway. If I did get caught, I'd say the the supplier insisted.

Mstty

Jackie1813 said:

Hi, My daughter is with SSE/OVO who would like to install a smart meter and my daughter would also like one. Unfortunately the landlord has said she is  not allowed to let SSE install one, Can the landlord stop her

@_Penny_Dreadful See above the very first post from the OP. The property manager and landlord are already alerted so it is not a leap to suggest they may perform a property inspection.

_Penny_Dreadful

Mstty said:

Jackie1813 said:

Hi, My daughter is with SSE/OVO who would like to install a smart meter and my daughter would also like one. Unfortunately the landlord has said she is  not allowed to let SSE install one, Can the landlord stop her

@_Penny_Dreadful See above the very first post from the OP. The property manager and landlord are already alerted so it is not a leap to suggest they may perform a property inspection.

Yes I can read and the answer to the question is no the landlord can’t stop her. As the landlord is using a property manager I doubt he will inspect the property himself and the property manager sounds like a mouth breather so I doubt he’d know a smart meter from a non-smart one. It’s unusual for meters to be checked during an inspection anyway. 

Mstty

_Penny_Dreadful said:

Mstty said:

Jackie1813 said:

Hi, My daughter is with SSE/OVO who would like to install a smart meter and my daughter would also like one. Unfortunately the landlord has said she is  not allowed to let SSE install one, Can the landlord stop her

@_Penny_Dreadful See above the very first post from the OP. The property manager and landlord are already alerted so it is not a leap to suggest they may perform a property inspection.

Yes I can read and the answer to the question is no the landlord can’t stop her. As the landlord is using a property manager I doubt he will inspect the property himself and the property manager sounds like a mouth breather so I doubt he’d know a smart meter from a non-smart one. It’s unusual for meters to be checked during an inspection anyway. 

No one is debating that the landlord can stop a smart meter install just the fact it may ruin the renter landlord relationship in this strange instance.

It would not be unusual in this particular instance on an inspection, given the strange view the property manager and landlord seem to have over smart meters, and the fact they are alerted to a potential change.

Over to the OP to advise if his daughter really cares about this relationship or intends to move on at the end of the current contract anyway that will be what they have to weigh up.

SusieT

Very odd that the landlord does not want one. I had no idea smart meters were fitted at my rental, or who the supplier was until it was empty and the checkout inspection had photos of them. I did not care as it also meant that the fitter would (I hope) have checked the gas/electric supply was safe, and yes I did have gas and electric checks done! 
To me it makes the end meter readings so much easier, and also it was clear when the gas/electric was my responsibility at the end of the tenancy.