Landlord energy supply advice

seriousam

Hello all

I have an odd energy supply set up here which i believe isn't legal. I live in a 3 block flat building and im on the second floor. First floor and the second floor have gas whereas the top floor does not. Me (second floor) and my neighbour on the first floor appear to share a single gas boiler and meter which is in the landlords name and he then bills us for whatever this balance is and are expected to go half and half on this bill.

Isn't this illegal? Surely we should both have our own meters so we know exactly what we are spending. Not to mention the gas supplier is loosing out on x2 standing charges for two properties instead we are only paying one for one property when it's two that are using it.

The landlord isn't making a profit he shows us the bill but I don't see how it's legal for us to pay for something we have no idea exactly how much we have used.

I'd greatly appreciate any advice.

QrizB

It sounds unusual but may not be illegal.

What does your tenancy agreement say about the gas supply?

seriousam

There is no mention of this in the tenancy agreement. As i understand it, it is just a 'gentlemens' agreement.

CSI_Yorkshire

That is the correct and appropriate method when there is no independent metering of the two flats.

Nothing unusual or illegal, and the landlord is proving his legal compliance by showing you the bill and not making any profit.

doodling

Hi,

There is nothing wrong with the setup as is.

If the heating / hot water is properly split between the flats then installation of heat meters would cost around £1k-£2k.  That would allow the gas bill to be split according to usage.  I expect the landlord would expect you to find that money, either up front or through increased rent.

If the plumbing isn't currently separate then you can add the cost and disruption of a plumber for several days splitting the system cleanly into two.

Scot_39

It's not that unusual, and it certainly isn't afaik illegal.  Lots of HMO conversions have shared heating.  But you could chat to citizens advice about the exact set-up.

All citizens advice say in their generic Web help - is that the landlord has to split as accurately as possible where not individually metered and not overcharge in total.  

So unless one flat is much much bigger than the other or more occupants - split 50 50 probably as fair as it is likely to get - without landlord and so you via your rent facing additional potentially non trivial costs.

And any work to split at low cost could possibly end up with the one not with the boiler - converted to cheap panel electric heating - and that's much more expensive to run (SR electric 30p/kWh, gas 7.5p) and I suspect your flat the obvious contender.

Or you could accept the agreement as is - assuming you were aware of it when moved in - and look on the bright side - you should only be paying half the SC - even gas is c£100pa.