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Energy standing charges on empty property; a legal requirement?

Mike Reed

Mike Reed

pfm Member
This time around (last sale foundered on the outbreak of Covid) I turned off all utilities in the flat and the meter reading from departure of tenants in July to completion a couple of weeks ago was the same.

As all (and I mean ALL) the letters were addressed by Bulb to the occupier, I ignored them. Eventionally I opened the one addressed to occupier/owner and contacted the useless company, getting similar grief and cock-ups as I did 18 months ago. I now have a standing charge bill to pay at recent hike rates.

The water company simply ask that you leave their letter for the next occupant; no charges, nothing.

How come energy companies, where the previous user has cancelled their contract, assume ownership of the infrastructure in order to charge a daily rate regardless of usage? I can't find anything in Google to say that they have statutory duty in this regard, though it's assumed to be standard practice.

Has anybody any insight on legal responsibilities here? It seems wrong to me to pay for not requiring the use of energy provision. My sister points out that I could have asked to be disconnected (which is a bad move, of course) but I was not affiliated to Bulb contractually.
 
Unless the utilities are disconnected you are liable to pay the standing charges whether the property is occupied or not.
 
while the house is empty the water is running off the gutters into the sewage system which needs dealing with so water rates have to be paid

gas and electric have a standing charge which you are liable for the minute the tenant moves out . you have to put the account in your name when they move out and then move it to the new tenant when they move in

also same with council tax which reverts to your name

void periods can be expensive :eek:
 
Mike Reed said:
As all (and I mean ALL) the letters were addressed by Bulb to the occupier, I ignored them. Eventionally I opened the one addressed to occupier/owner and contacted the useless company, getting similar grief and cock-ups as I did 18 months ago. I now have a standing charge bill to pay at recent hike rates.
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I feel your pain. Bulb are by far the most useless and incompetent energy company I've ever had to deal with. The left hand never seemed to have a ****ing clue what the right hand was doing. :mad:
 
I don't see how it can be a statutory requirement to have live utilities connected to a property, but I'll stand to be corrected as soon as someone can point to the relevant legislation.
 
kensalriser said:
I don't see how it can be a statutory requirement to have live utilities connected to a property, but I'll stand to be corrected as soon as someone can point to the relevant legislation.
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It's not but if you choose to do so, you're building up a whole host of trouble with damp and burst pipes and central heating doesn't like being left unused - although not terminal, it may cost you in seized diverter valves and pump and a flush of the system before it works again.
 
hifinutt said:
while the house is empty the water is running off the gutters into the sewage system which needs dealing with so water rates have to be paid

gas and electric have a standing charge which you are liable for the minute the tenant moves out . you have to put the account in your name when they move out and then move it to the new tenant when they move in

also same with council tax which reverts to your name

void periods can be expensive :eek:
Click to expand...

All I can say is that as far as I remember I’ve never been billed for for water, electricity or gas charges in void periods, but I have always been billed for council charge.

Routine void periods for change of tenant are always short with me, a week or so mostly.
 
hifinutt said:
while the house is empty the water is running off the gutters into the sewage system which needs dealing with so water rates have to be paid

gas and electric have a standing charge which you are liable for the minute the tenant moves out . you have to put the account in your name when they move out and then move it to the new tenant when they move in

also same with council tax which reverts to your name

void periods can be expensive :eek:
Click to expand...

Yep. Anything to do with property costs a fortune. Had a change of tenant over the summer. Loss of rent, redecoration, utility bills, council tax, agents fees for new tenant etc, cost over £5K. You don’t want to be doing that every year.
 
Ponty said:
Yep. Anything to do with property costs a fortune. Had a change of tenant over the summer. Loss of rent, redecoration, utility bills, council tax, agents fees for new tenant etc, cost over £5K. You don’t want to be doing that every year.
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I guess that all adds up to making the rent more expensive for the tenants.
Apparently alot of the less expensive houses, coming on the market here are ex-rentals, seemingly lots of folks getting out of it.
When I was working in England and still had a house in NI the only thing I had to pay was the rates, no standing charges for utilities. I don't think there is such a thing as a standing charge except for a landline which I haven't had for a long time, well over ten years.
 
Darren L said:
I guess that all adds up to making the rent more expensive for the tenants.
Apparently alot of the less expensive houses, coming on the market here are ex-rentals, seemingly lots of folks getting out of it.
When I was working in England and still had a house in NI the only thing I had to pay was the rates, no standing charges for utilities. I don't think there is such a thing as a standing charge except for a landline which I haven't had for a long time, well over ten years.
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Yes, flexibility generally has a price. I was chatting with a friend recently who has 2 grown up children in their late 20’s. They could, but neither are remotely interested in owning property. They view it as a millstone of inflexibility. They want to be able to accept job opportunities abroad at a moments notice for example. It’s an interesting change of culture.

Many landlords who aren’t committed for the long term are getting out and I don’t blame them to be honest. It’s a great time to offload in the current artificially pumped up bubble.
 
Mike Reed said:
This time around (last sale foundered on the outbreak of Covid) I turned off all utilities in the flat and the meter reading from departure of tenants in July to completion a couple of weeks ago was the same.

As all (and I mean ALL) the letters were addressed by Bulb to the occupier, I ignored them. Eventionally I opened the one addressed to occupier/owner and contacted the useless company, getting similar grief and cock-ups as I did 18 months ago. I now have a standing charge bill to pay at recent hike rates.

The water company simply ask that you leave their letter for the next occupant; no charges, nothing.

How come energy companies, where the previous user has cancelled their contract, assume ownership of the infrastructure in order to charge a daily rate regardless of usage? I can't find anything in Google to say that they have statutory duty in this regard, though it's assumed to be standard practice.

Has anybody any insight on legal responsibilities here? It seems wrong to me to pay for not requiring the use of energy provision. My sister points out that I could have asked to be disconnected (which is a bad move, of course) but I was not affiliated to Bulb contractually.
Click to expand...
It appears that what you've done in the past has been to leave the standing charge for the period between tenants to be paid by the new tenant. Hardly fair on him.
A standing charge for the utilities is akin to a telephone line rental, something that you pay for being connected. It's nothing new, nothing uncommon and nothing unfair. It's simply something you've not noticed before because of a quick turnaround.
 
Darren L said:
I guess that all adds up to making the rent more expensive for the tenants.
Apparently alot of the less expensive houses, coming on the market here are ex-rentals, seemingly lots of folks getting out of it.
When I was working in England and still had a house in NI the only thing I had to pay was the rates, no standing charges for utilities. I don't think there is such a thing as a standing charge except for a landline which I haven't had for a long time, well over ten years.
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yes my friend bought an ex rental to live in last week

the costs for rental are increasing massively with tax rises , unable to claim for mortgages , finance costs , stamp duty fees , abolition of tenanat fees etc etc
add to that the rise in cannabis farms . heard of 3 big properties WRECKED in past 6 months and you cant claim on insurance . talking 50-60k damage . 2 cannabis farms found within 2 roads of my house recently
its not looking good for the rental market and increasing rents are a nightmare for hard working folks who simply cannot afford all these rises
 
Thorn said:
It appears that what you've done in the past has been to leave the standing charge for the period between tenants to be paid by the new tenant. Hardly fair on him.
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Nope; wrong assumption. First time around (March to May last year) I needed to use energy for various improvements/repairs, so simply paid the bills. Bulb, on that occasion, were so amazingly uncoordinated and useless it caused me a lot of time and aggro. I was offered a paltry £10, later upped to £50 by someone much higher up, to reflect their incompetence etc. The sale, aborted by Covid, went to a new rental/sale (whichever came first).

This time, turned everything off as I didn't need energy for this sale In summer). The last (Bulgarian) tenant couple thought I was an excellent landlord, which I am by desire, but now too old to cope.
 
hifinutt said:
yes my friend bought an ex rental to live in last week

the costs for rental are increasing massively with tax rises , unable to claim for mortgages , finance costs , stamp duty fees , abolition of tenanat fees etc etc
add to that the rise in cannabis farms . heard of 3 big properties WRECKED in past 6 months and you cant claim on insurance . talking 50-60k damage . 2 cannabis farms found within 2 roads of my house recently
its not looking good for the rental market and increasing rents are a nightmare for hard working folks who simply cannot afford all these rises
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I think the answer is for the government to provide affordable rental properties for those who cannot afford to buy and totally do away with private rentals altogether, obviously to legalise Cannibis cultivation and consumption like Luxembourg. ( I realise this opinion may not be popular with private rental landlords or rednecks)
 
LecsonQuad said:
Unless the utilities are disconnected you are liable to pay the standing charges whether the property is occupied or not.
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Said like a well-informed man! Yes, as my sister thought; if you are connected, a company has to be responsible whether you use the facilities or not. However, I still can't see why this legal requirement, if indeed it is, is different to the water/sewage companies, which invariably do not charge anything for void properties. In my case, I didn't even have to let them know I was the landlord !
 
Darren L said:
I think the answer is for the government to provide affordable rental properties for those who cannot afford to buy and totally do away with private rentals altogether, obviously to legalise Cannabis cultivation and consumption like Luxembourg. ( I realise this opinion may not be popular with private rental landlords or rednecks)
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One dwelling, one inhabitant group. Doesn't matter who owns it, and councils are not your most efficient organisations, Darren. Re. your comment about cannabis, I don't think your recommendation would be popular with the gangs responsible for culture, processing and sale of the stuff. Can't think why cannabis would be connected to rentals though, unless you create a new 'rent-a-joint business.:)
 
Interesting and diverse comments, chaps. The sum involved is small but the principle (in my eyes) is not, and Bulb just addressing all their correspondence to 'the occupier' (which I was not) was indicative that I'd have trouble again with this outfit, as indeed I have and am having.
 
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Darren L said:
I think the answer is for the government to provide affordable rental properties for those who cannot afford to buy and totally do away with private rentals altogether, obviously to legalise Cannibis cultivation and consumption like Luxembourg. ( I realise this opinion may not be popular with private rental landlords or rednecks)
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yes councils do already provide housing of course at reasonably affordable rates . some friends moved into a top flat 2 years ago and i renovated half of it . leaking roof though that council does not repair, they just threw away a load of mouldy clothes. very very hard to get this accommodation sadly
 
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