Fair usage costs of utilities included in rent seem rather low

melb

markin said:

Who wants to not have full control of the heating, And on a commercial rate.

exactly.  I once took my daughter to view a rental and the agent said the boiler was in the flat below and was entirely at the behest of the tenant in the flat below as to when it was switched on.  Apparently it hadn't caused any problems with the current tenant lol!  The first thing we saw was that 2 of the windows in the flat below were broken with big holes in them.  We only went in as we didn't want to appear rude to the lettings agency. The actual flat we viewed was actually nice and spacious but who would sign up to that?

jrawle

Assuming the property is gas heated, the electricity limit seems fine to me for a 1 bed property. I use slightly less than that. If the gas is for heating, that's ridiculously low, and it sounds unfair that there is a usage limit if you don't have control over it. Pretty much the only way you could use excessive amounts of gas would be to leave the windows open.

However, just a thought. Is the whole block heated centrally, and the cost included in your rent, and not counting towards your "fair use" limit? In that case, the gas would just be for cooking (and maybe a separate gas fire), in which case it all makes sense and seems fair.

melb

No everything bar the heating is electric

[Deleted User]

markin said:

Who wants to not have full control of the heating, And on a commercial rate.

Landlords arent permitted to profit on utilities. I guess a lot of people who live in shared houses have to share the bills.