Heating + Legal connundrum.
Discussion
So here’s the situation – I live in a shared house, all of us have our own individual contracts, rented on a room by room basis. We are allowed access to the communal areas, and all use the garage. The landlord pays the household bills.
In the letting contract there is no mention of who pays the bills, the only official document I have on that is an email from the lettings agent confirming that the electricity, gas, broadband, water and council tax will be paid for by the landlord. Fine.
Here’s is the tricky bit – A couple of weeks back we all (so far as I am aware) received a text message from the land lord, telling us that the utilities company had been in contact and our gas usage is high. He asked us to reduce our usage if possible, and highlighted that a fair usage agreement was in force, and any extra we would have to pay.
Firstly – I haven’t signed or agreed to any such agreement, is fair usage presumed in a situation like this? Can he charge us for excessive usage? Either way, most of the household agreed to turn the heating down a few C, and switch it off at night. Fine – quite happy with that, I hate boiling hot houses anyway.
The problem has now arisen where one of the other tenants wants the heating on continuously, and the radiators hot continuously, thus turning the ‘stat up high (think 24+ C) so the boiler runs flat out, all day and all night. This is obviously using an absolutely enormous amount of gas, which will have to be paid for – not to mention waking me up in the night because it’s so f’ing hot in my room.
What should/can I do to remove any liability I have (if any)?
The tenant I suspect is responsible (no one has owned up yet) is not one for talking, preferring the passive aggressive note tactic.
In the letting contract there is no mention of who pays the bills, the only official document I have on that is an email from the lettings agent confirming that the electricity, gas, broadband, water and council tax will be paid for by the landlord. Fine.
Here’s is the tricky bit – A couple of weeks back we all (so far as I am aware) received a text message from the land lord, telling us that the utilities company had been in contact and our gas usage is high. He asked us to reduce our usage if possible, and highlighted that a fair usage agreement was in force, and any extra we would have to pay.
Firstly – I haven’t signed or agreed to any such agreement, is fair usage presumed in a situation like this? Can he charge us for excessive usage? Either way, most of the household agreed to turn the heating down a few C, and switch it off at night. Fine – quite happy with that, I hate boiling hot houses anyway.
The problem has now arisen where one of the other tenants wants the heating on continuously, and the radiators hot continuously, thus turning the ‘stat up high (think 24+ C) so the boiler runs flat out, all day and all night. This is obviously using an absolutely enormous amount of gas, which will have to be paid for – not to mention waking me up in the night because it’s so f’ing hot in my room.
What should/can I do to remove any liability I have (if any)?
The tenant I suspect is responsible (no one has owned up yet) is not one for talking, preferring the passive aggressive note tactic.
Edited by Matthen on Monday 14th December 17:57
If the rads have TRVs, it should be easier to control his room and turn the rest down, but either way, heating on 24/7 is ridiculous. The trouble is, in any shared environment, different people prefer different things. I doubt the landlord really wants to get legal over the gas usage so someone should call a house meeting to discuss and confront the issues. Thats about the only way you're going to get through it, by openly discussing your concerns, without the landlord resorting to suddenly upping the rent to get over your use.
Matthen said:
Firstly – I haven’t signed or agreed to any such agreement, is fair usage presumed in a situation like this? Can he charge us for excessive usage?
It's not in your rental agreement? If you definitely haven't signed to anything other than "all utilities included" I can't see him being able to claim anything from you. However if you have signed up to something in the small print, I can't see how you can withhold payment even if you weren't the cause - a hazard of shared properties.
(IANAL BTW)
redddraggon said:
It's not in your rental agreement? If you definitely haven't signed to anything other than "all utilities included" I can't see him being able to claim anything from you.
However if you have signed up to something in the small print, I can't see how you can withhold payment even if you weren't the cause - a hazard of shared properties.
(IANAL BTW)
Nope, I read it extremely thoroughly - its a standard contract that the estate agent give to all of there clients - ie, vague as sHowever if you have signed up to something in the small print, I can't see how you can withhold payment even if you weren't the cause - a hazard of shared properties.
(IANAL BTW)
t. Just had a conversation with her - managed to persuade her that 24/7 is not viable, by offering to have it come on for an hour in the middle of the night, to make sure her room stays warm. Down to 19/7, but its a start. Annoyingly the timer only has 2 periods available to program, so you can't really cut back In the day, except by turning the temperature down.
Toltec said:
The landlord could put a more modern stat in, one with temperatures by time of day and day of week. You could at least set a nighttime temp that would mean the boiler would only kick in on colder nights and stop the house from getting too cold.
That would be the best solution, but considering he's taken over 3 months to repair damage that was here at the start of the tenancy, im not holding out much hope. Matthen said:
Toltec said:
The landlord could put a more modern stat in, one with temperatures by time of day and day of week. You could at least set a nighttime temp that would mean the boiler would only kick in on colder nights and stop the house from getting too cold.
That would be the best solution, but considering he's taken over 3 months to repair damage that was here at the start of the tenancy, im not holding out much hope. 24degs!? Feck me, someone hasn't had to pay their own utilities before!!
Explain situation to landlord, ask where you agreed to a fair use policy but remind him you are finding the house unbearably hot so aren't too late.
More modern thermostat with more programming functions is reasonably as well. They aren't exactly expensive vs 24degs running costs.
Failing that, you all need to confront women and get her to see some sense. 24degs is utterly ridiculous.
Explain situation to landlord, ask where you agreed to a fair use policy but remind him you are finding the house unbearably hot so aren't too late.
More modern thermostat with more programming functions is reasonably as well. They aren't exactly expensive vs 24degs running costs.
Failing that, you all need to confront women and get her to see some sense. 24degs is utterly ridiculous.
If not explicitly in your contract, nothing for you to pay other than by your own personal goodwill. Landlord or the agent have been a bit careless with the contract it seems and it could end up costing them a few pennies. Always easier to say with hindsight though!
Mind you, your flatmate sounds like a nightmare. If I were the landlord, I would update agreements with a fair, reasonable and sensible clause re fair usage/usage limits at the next review date, install much better means of control for the heating and give notice to the PITA tenant.
Mind you, your flatmate sounds like a nightmare. If I were the landlord, I would update agreements with a fair, reasonable and sensible clause re fair usage/usage limits at the next review date, install much better means of control for the heating and give notice to the PITA tenant.
Forums | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff