Paying standing charge for communal door entry system

HannahL77

Hi all,
I have had a look on Google but can't seem to find the answer so hoping someone here can help. I have recently moved into a block of 6 flats all owned by the occupiers. We have a bill each month for our door entry system it has used 1 unit of energy in the last 6 months but we have been billed £145 on top of that for standing charges. Does anyone know if theres any sort of tariff that would stop us being charged so much? We are in scotland if that makes a difference and our standing charge is currently 65.9p per day  

Hoenir

Is the standing charge for the system service maintence contract? 

Largs

You could have a look at Utilita as I think they don't have a standing charge.  That seems a different set-up you have to the flats I have lived in.  How do you get billed for the close lighting? 

Netexporter

It will be the standing charge for the communal supply. Nothing you can do about it, if you want electricity.

If all the owners can agree, you could install solar panels on that supply, the SEGs from which would more than offset the standing charge and will pay off the capital cost in probably less than 5 years.

HampshireH

HannahL77 said:

Hi all,
I have had a look on Google but can't seem to find the answer so hoping someone here can help. I have recently moved into a block of 6 flats all owned by the occupiers. We have a bill each month for our door entry system it has used 1 unit of energy in the last 6 months but we have been billed £145 on top of that for standing charges. Does anyone know if theres any sort of tariff that would stop us being charged so much? We are in scotland if that makes a difference and our standing charge is currently 65.9p per day  

Do you also have lighting in the communal areas/any fire safety protection running off the same supply or is that run off another meter and anothe sttanding charge? 1 unit of energy in 6 months is crazy low

HannahL77

From what I've been told the council wouldn't set up a door entry system like they did on the other flats in the area not sure why so the owners had to set it up themselves and sort out an electricity supply for it The lights are still run by the council as far as I know. I was looking at utilita but was told they have a minimum usage which is no good for us

doodling

Hi,

If the communal supply only powers the door entry system then I'd be looking at the possibility of supplying the door entry system with power from one of the flats - unless the way that electricity is billed changes dramatically then the fixed cost for a stand alone supply will always massively exceed the cost of the energy.

That only works if the communal supply only supplies the door entry - are you sure that there aren't any other communal services like hallway / outside lighting, a fire alarm a TV aerial amplifier, etc.?

If it is just the door entry then it will save money to supply it from one of the leaseholders' own supplies - it is probably worth getting a private meter installed and modifying all the leases so that the leaseholder supplying the system gets reimbursed.  That will be your problem - the costs of modifying the leases and removing the communal supply will take a long time to recover, even at £145 per half year.  You could do it informally but what happens if a leaseholder moves in that won't play ball?

lohr500

How is the billing handled?

Does the bill go to a nominated resident who then requests payments from the other residents?
Or is there a residents group with the bill in the group name?
I am unfamiliar with these type of arrangements.

It is probably fraught with legal and health  & safety complications but I wonder if a power spur could be taken off the closest flat to provide the requirement for the access control system.  The extra cost of electricity for that particular flat owner would be minimal and the separate supply could then be terminated. The other residents could contribute a token amount each year to recompense the affected flat owner.

That being said, there may well be a charge to terminate the shared supply.

 

ScottishStair

We are in the same situation. When we put in the door entry system , Edinburgh Council had decided that it would have to have a separate supply from the stair lighting. We have had the system for a least 20 years and the meter has not budged a bit IE it is still reading the same number of units as it did when installed . Over the years I have managed to find suppliers that did not have a standing charge but these have dried up. We are presently paying 62£ per quarter in standing charges and we have not used any measurable electricity ever. I  would like to find a tariff with no standing charge if any are available

ScottishStair

HampshireH said:

HannahL77 said:

Hi all,
I have had a look on Google but can't seem to find the answer so hoping someone here can help. I have recently moved into a block of 6 flats all owned by the occupiers. We have a bill each month for our door entry system it has used 1 unit of energy in the last 6 months but we have been billed £145 on top of that for standing charges. Does anyone know if theres any sort of tariff that would stop us being charged so much? We are in scotland if that makes a difference and our standing charge is currently 65.9p per day  

Do you also have lighting in the communal areas/any fire safety protection running off the same supply or is that run off another meter and anothe sttanding charge? 1 unit of energy in 6 months is crazy low

Our door entry system has used no measurable electricity in 20 years. In Edinburgh the stair lighting is supplied by the council as part of your council tax. This includes emergency lighting though I believe that this is now the responsibility of the property owners if it needs new bills/repaired. There is no management company/factor involved. To pay 62£ a quarter as a standing charge for no measurable electricity used is frankly very annoying

Scot_39

Surely you must self factor then collectively for other communal block costs and any structural maintenance / repairs.

In the scale of which - surely £200-300pa/6 in standing charges is fairly small - and whilst annoying - is worth it for the added security maybe less cleaning / repainting etc and even the likely lower heat loss through flat doors to stairwell