Landlord restrictions on heating

stuhow20

My son has just moved in to a private HMO for university where the rent includes all utility bills.  The agreement states "The central heating is manually controlled by the Tenant as explained in the document which is issued prior to moving in."

The document explains how to use the Time O Stats around the house.

However the heating is turned off and apparently will only be turned on in the "colder months" which one tenant states was told this would be end of October to end of February.

A number of the tenants have asked for the heating to be turned on in the evenings as it's started to get colder in the evenings and it's a huge house. But they have been told it won't be switched on and to wear more layers. 

They are also not allowed to have heaters in their rooms which is in the agreement. Didn't really see any reason to question this as the agreement states the tenants ave control.

I have seen under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 that a room must be able to be heated to a minimum of 18 degrees when the outside temperature is -1 but can't see anything other than that. 

I have emailed the agent and landlord for clarification but just want to see if anyone had any info that would help.

Jonboy_1984

I would start by heading to Tesco or similar, and buying a thermometer for a couple of quid to see what the actual ambient temperature is…when I was at college my fellow students were incredibly adept at sitting around in t-shirts with the window open, and complaining it felt cold and could the heating go on(or walking in deciding it was too hot and opening a window rather than turning the heating down!).

Does the tenancy have anything about excess energy costs if the property uses more than expected in a period, as a extra bill for early heating use may upset them a second time down the line?

elsien

Surely there’s got to be a boiler and means to turn it on and off somewhere in the house, aside from the thermostat which is just temperature control? 

[Deleted User]

From landlord perspective, this is a difficulty of the HMO model. It is not possible to identify who uses more electric or gas amongst the tenants so it is included in the bills as if each uses the same. The rent inclusive of all bills reflects some imagined: average or reasonable level of use with the sort of conditions you mention outlining what this would be: heating off in summer etc.

Now the Landlord is not allowed to profit from utilities provision so what the tenants are each paying is exactly for the agreed manner of use.

With that said you could probably stick an electric heater in a room and the landlord would have little recourse to stop you but it would be something for nothing. In my house if I were to put the heating on in Autumn it might add £400 to the annual bill, so if you are willing to pay extra that might be okay.

stuhow20

Jonboy_1984 said:

I would start by heading to Tesco or similar, and buying a thermometer for a couple of quid to see what the actual ambient temperature is…when I was at college my fellow students were incredibly adept at sitting around in t-shirts with the window open, and complaining it felt cold and could the heating go on(or walking in deciding it was too hot and opening a window rather than turning the heating down!).

Does the tenancy have anything about excess energy costs if the property uses more than expected in a period, as a extra bill for early heating use may upset them a second time down the line?

Yes I am taking a thermometer tomorrow. I have to say I have met most of the students and they are not the stereotypical type I have to say. I get the impression that the agent is more at fault than the landlord as they can be a little OTT on things.

Yes the agreement does state about more than expected costs on the whole not just related to energy, 

stuhow20

elsien said:

Surely there’s got to be a boiler and means to turn it on and off somewhere in the house, aside from the thermostat which is just temperature control? 

There are stat controls in each zone but are inoperable because the main thermostat / boiler is off. 

stuhow20

[Deleted User] said:

From landlord perspective, this is a difficulty of the HMO model. It is not possible to identify who uses more electric or gas amongst the tenants so it is included in the bills as if each uses the same. The rent inclusive of all bills reflects some imagined: average or reasonable level of use with the sort of conditions you mention outlining what this would be: heating off in summer etc.

Now the Landlord is not allowed to profit from utilities provision so what the tenants are each paying is exactly for the agreed manner of use.

With that said you could probably stick an electric heater in a room and the landlord would have little recourse to stop you but it would be something for nothing. In my house if I were to put the heating on in Autumn it might add £400 to the annual bill, so if you are willing to pay extra that might be okay.

What I am concerned about is if they are limiting heating to end of October to end of February that is not on at all. 

It should be set to a minimum temp of course but not by month. My heating was still coming on occasionally this year in May because of the freak weather we had, 

As the agreement states they have control then they should have control, says nothing about certain times. 

And if they are turning off the boiler it could be seen as not in working order which then could go against legislation so I read.

I would quite happily take a oil filled radiator to him but it states in their agreement that they are not allowed heaters of any kind in the rooms. 

MultiFuelBurner

The boiler is probably not off as it will be heating hot water?

So form the above if the students do have access to the boiler and they do turn the heating on earlier in the year. Are they all prepared to pay for that extra use?

Gas boiler heating will be cheaper for them all rather than individual electric heaters.

Sounds like they all need to agree they want the heat on earlier and maybe later than end of Feb and are all prepared to pay the extra for this comfort.

elsien

stuhow20 said:

elsien said:

Surely there’s got to be a boiler and means to turn it on and off somewhere in the house, aside from the thermostat which is just temperature control? 

There are stat controls in each zone but are inoperable because the main thermostat / boiler is off. 

What’s stopping them from simply turning it on?
 

And do they have a baseline for what in “expected costs” means because otherwise that is hugely open to interpretation and a potential minefield in itself. 

marcia_

 I saw this in a property I viewed. The controls were covered by a locked plastic box. I didn't move in there 

lookstraightahead

My daughter had this to start with at uni and when they complained (as it was not specified in the contract) the landlord switched it on. The argument of keeping windows shut is not a good one especially in high moisture areas such as kitchens and bathrooms. Students shouldn't have to live any differently from anyone else. I've just put my heating on this morning as it's 15 degrees in my house.