I’m sorry if I’m posting in the wrong sub, but i needed to move to a different area and leave the friend I’m currently renting with, our two bedroom apartment doesn’t cost nearly that much in bills, and I have never heard before of service charge in rent, to be fair i just moved here only one year ago so i might be wrong. But could anyone let me know if this is normal?

by smthsmthinsidejoke

45 comments

  2. ‘You are lucky to have bills less than that’ is a crazy statement lol.

    Also all the bills and extra charges / fees don’t even add to £400, even if you split it between 3 people??

    This landlord is something else…

  3. £300 for heating!? I’m heating a decent sized detached house and a climate controlled double-garage for less than that!

  4. ‘Private en-suite which is a wet room’ aka we’ve squeezed a shower toilet and sink into a 1sq m space

  5. I live alone and pay less than £100 in energy bills per month

  6. £300 for heating is absolutely insane, unless you’re paying for the whole street.

  7. Edit: thought i should also mention there are 3 bedrooms in the house, so these bills should be split on 3 people, i don’t understand how that results in me paying an extra 400£

  8. Aside from the ludicrous ‘heating bill’, an additional service charge on a rented property is absolute insanity

  9. My water is £20, Gas and Electric £80 ISH, CT £80 is after the 25% discount. I clean myself as it’s just me.

    Seems like a scam

  11. Also the service charge is on the owner , not you lol

  12. I rent a 500+ sq ft one bed by Victoria Park in Hackney for £1,500 and my bills (incl. quite a pricey wifi) are just over £200 and I use the heating a fair amount. The total price sounds nuts….

  13. £300 for heating 😂 they could’ve at least lied about the council tax. The water is ridiculous too

  14. 300 for heating and 100 for water? Be honest OP, are you a tropical fish?

  16. Unless you’re trying to live in the middle of Soho there is no en suite room that is worth that money.

  17. Just to answer the headline question (though this landlord is scummy and totally trying to rinse you) – as this is a flat he is likely a leasehold landlord. This means he has to pay a service charge to the building management which basically covers the building insurance and maintenace of the communal services between each flat. What he’s therefore doing is passing down that cost onto you, which to be fair isn’t unusual. £300 for heating seems OTT though.

  18. Lol 80 – 100 for water, Thames water standard amount is 31 per month per person, and I tend to be way below that. This guy was trying to fleece you.

  19. That’s absolutely incorrect, if you’re renting typically you cover rent and bills, it’s the landlords job to cover service charge, I’d tell them to suck a fat one 👍🏻

  20. Those are made up prices unless it’s a fucking barn with a swimming pool. 

  21. So does the rent go down by £300 during the months the heating isn’t used? Yeah, didn’t think so.

  22. Haha those are crazy bills. That person is expecting you to pay THEIR bills. You’d be mad to move there.

  24. i heat (including water) a bloody detached house for £900 (ish) a year. 300 a month is total jokes

  25. Name and shame. Someone post the ad of this property

  28. 80-100 for water??? We have 4 people in a 4-bed house and have never paid more than 45/mth total.

  29. I remember viewing flat once in London and the landlord was telling me the service charge would be coming to me – he doesn’t know how much. Like wtf, your problem not mine

  30. whatever site this listing was on i hope they take reports for false listing prices

    they clearly want 1.8k but list 1.4k hoping to get more clients who will go “well i already messaged him, all others probably have these charges too, at least this guy says so, so ill just rent from him”

  31. They’re trying to rip you off big time. £100 per month for water is absolutely unhinged. I pay ~£300/*YEAR* for an entire house.

  32. All of them prices are wild but the fact the landlord has automatically lumped a cleaner in at £120.
    Sorry mate, I own a hoover and am more than happy to save that money by doing this mental thing of cleaning my own home? 🫠

  33. I think, ‘is this normal?’ is the wrong question. Easier question is: “is this what this person is charging?” Answer is yes. Many places you deal with your own bills, some places will charge you a share like here. Bottom line is what you need to know. You can decide if it’s worth it for you or not.

  34. Landlord is probably making you pay the service charge for the building as well.
    Is it a new build?

  35. Horrific to think people are being scammed for accomodation like this. Those “bills” are so ridiculously over the top for a 3 person household and trying to pass off a wet-room as an “ensuite” is just the icing on the scam cake.

  36. fucking service charge? that’s illegal.

    and this flat clearly has a Z energy efficiency rating

  37. £50 for WiFi is moronic. He’s either scamming you or he’s insanely bad at shopping around for better value

  38. It depends on the location, but for me, the breakdown month for a 3-bedroom house to rent is £1100 ( rent ), and the electric and gas never goes more than 150 – 200 per month in winter; in summer, it’s much less than that I think the lowest we had was 85/90. I work from home, so my computer is on all the time. Plus, my partner and I play games on PCs. It never comes to £300 ever. We’ve been doing this for two years now, and even with the price hike, it never came to that!

    I’m glad you never went through with it!

  39. £60/hour for the cleaner has got to be the most ridiculous part of this

  41. This ‘landlord’ sounds like total scum with that ridiculous breakdown of costs.

  42. 300 for heating is wild 🤣 even my mums multifloor townhouse with awful insulation doesnt cost that in gas and theres 3 occupants!

    Is it in a building with added amenities? Eg gym, pool, common rooms etc? If so service charge is very normal and can be extremely high so is one to watch out for while hunting as some can try to be very sneaky about it. It tends to be the new builds that have service charges that aren’t already built into the rent cost.

    “You’re already lucky” is a huge red flag in landlords tho, i can see that line coming out whenever you’ve got a maintenance issue that needs his urgent attention when he doesnt want to fix it as quickly as needed or have a complaint. Id say youre lucky to be avoiding this one!

  43. £300 a month on heating a 2 bed flat?

    Growing weed, right?

  45. Hi OP,

    Just a couple points for you if you’re wanting to challenge the amount of extra money you’re being charged.

    – £300 for heating/energy is a ridiculous amount. It is illegal for a landlord to profit from the sale of energy to a tenant, and I would say your landlord almost certainly is with this amount
    – It seems you live in an HMO (which may or may not be licensable depending on your council) – the landlord is legally responsible for cleaning the common areas, whether they pay for a cleaner or they do it themselves. You shouldn’t be charged extra for that.
    – Service charges are the responsibility of the leaseholder/homeowner. You also shouldn’t be charged for that. Normally this is taken into account in the cost of the rent to cover mortgage, insurance, service charges etc, but I don’t think they can charge you outright for service charges.
    – the water bill seems very high. When I lived alone I was paying £17 a month for water

    I would suggest contacting your council’s tenancy relations office for some advice if you wish to do so

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