Help! Student renting and must arrange own bills

Scot_39

£30 pw for 3 - £90pw - say £400 pm is not especially excessive for 3 for all of those. But probably includes "healthy" margin / commisison fee for the agent.

There were some posts here a few years ago - speculating their margins were in the 25-30% range iirc.

But you have to be wary about what some claim the "margin" against - you cannot really compare a normal household to 3 young adults living independently in the one property - coming and going, cooking, laundry (if have the kit) etc at different times.

And the contract wont necessarily give your son any protection against the other's failure to pay bills - was for my nephew - a form of "Joint and Several Liability" - one skips, the others have to pay.

Friendships and money disputes don't always mix - if one struggles to pay on time etc. Avoiding that "stress" - might be worth any margin / premium in itself.

Bigphil1474

£90 a week is roughly £390 a month. For gas, electric, water, insurance, basic broadband, and TV Licence, we would be paying around £275 a month. With a TV package on the BB, closer to £350. However, that does include being wrapped up in thick jumpers and blankets in the winter and having to calculate whether we dare put the heating on. On the flip side, I would assume these are modern student apartments (?) which should have better thermal integrity. I think if it was me, back in my student days, I'd go for the fixed payment just for the convenience.

silvercar

Check the small print, some of these companies have a clause whereby the students get billed if they go over the limit set that feeds the £30 a month.

it is good adult admin learning for the students to take one or two bills each and be responsible for setting them up, monitoring and payments. They are many ways of splitting the bill that most banking apps allow you to use to notify the other householders of what they owe.

silvercar

this has been discussed previously and thought overpriced.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6411117/student-rental-utilities-bills-package-like-unihome-is-it-a-fair-deal-for-students

bob2302

When I was a student, my understanding was that students who had a TV were covered by the TV licence at their home address.

WiserMiser

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82011232#Comment_82011232

Unfortunately, your understanding is probably wrong.

The daft licensing laws mean students living away from home do need a licence unless the TV is powered solely by internal batteries.

So if their parents have a licence they can watch the BBC iPlayer on a mobile phone or laptop, but they become a criminal the moment they plug in the charger. 🙄

MWT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82011232#Comment_82011232

That wasn't true back in the 1970's, but I can't comment on the situation if you are talking about earlier than that…