Dodgy Landlord?

[AppleTree92]

Hi

We've been renting our flat for over 2 years now. We pay £550pcm rent and pay an additional £75pcm to the LL for electric and water.

I know it's not the usual way to do things but this is written in the contact and it all goes through reputable estate agents.

Today I received the attached letter. AIBU to be annoyed and wondering what's going on?

£900pa for water and electric sounds a lot. Is gas not included? How many bedrooms?

Anyway, I digress. Do you have it any writing that £75 covers water bills?

Yes I think gas is included. It's a 2 bedroom flat and we're in North Wales. Yes it's written in the contract that £75 is to be paid for water and electric. But clearly the LL has not been paying the water rates

forward the letter to the agent/ landlord together with a copy of your contract where it states about the £75 highlighted and ask them to sort it

Good idea, I'm worried about the water company though. Will they come after me for payment or the LL?

if its written in your contract then ultimately you might need to send a copy to the water company as proof that its down to LL

normally its due to whoever lives in the house but if the agreemnet states LL will pay, the LL should pay

From the letter it looks as though the landlord hasn't told the water company that there's someone living in the house, maybe even for the whole duration of your tenancy.

I wonder if that's why unusually he wants the £75 for utilities paid directly to him. He's clearly not passing that money onto the water company.

In your position I'd be contacting the water company directly to find out if the water bills are current and up to date, then contact the landlord /letting agent.

I was in a similar situation when I rented. My rent included all bills apart from Council Tax and I came home to find the flat had been repossessed as the Landlord had not been paying his mortgage. Luckily, the bank let me stay there and took the rent directly from me until they sold the property but were satisfied that I was abiding by the terms of my contract with the Landlord.

He had also failed to pay utilities for 8/9 months and I received similar letters before repossession. I sent them a copy of my contract along with my bank statements to show that the money went each month to Landlord and they were happy that it wasn't me responsible due to it be included in the rent. Maybe send them the same to show them?

Thank you for sharing your experience bugs. I think I will get in touch with the company and find out what's going on!