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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to considering keeping tenant deposit due to massive hating bill?

75 replies

Cherrypie32 · 15/03/2018 18:51

Or have I just lucked out? We put tenants into our 1 bed flat that was for sale on a month by month contract that was an all rent to cover all bills. I based my sums on previous tenants use age of amnenities. The property is now sold and a final bill for electricity came in at £550. I have been paying £23.00 a month with Eon. If they have caned usesge over and above the norm can I reasonably ask them to pay (or keep the deposit I was about to return). Just looking for advice really.

OP posts:
mikesh909 · 15/03/2018 19:03

No you can't do that. In all likelihood your £23 a month was massively under the odds. But even if the tenant somehow ran up that huge bill, you said bills were included. If I were your tenant I would be contesting that with the deposit holding people. Although something about your op points to you not having registered it at all? In which case I would be making a complaint about that which would likely land you with a fine larger than your electricity bill.

UndomesticHousewife · 15/03/2018 19:08

I assume you gave a final reading which has shown you were underpaying every month. The final bill will be for months or maybe years.

Original poster
Cherrypie32 · 15/03/2018 19:08

Ok thanks for the advice, I needed the advice not a flaming. The flat is now sold so I’m not a landlord anymore and only was for 5 months on an agreement essentially made between us as friends. I’ve just returned the deposit and I’ll sort the bill.

OP posts:
lalalalyra · 15/03/2018 19:09

No, you advertised the rent as inclusive of bills. £23 a month is very low for electric and you made the error of basing usage on previous tenants.

Out of curiosity - what made you do an all inclusive package instead of getting the electric put into their name?

No deposit scheme will allow you to keep the deposit on that basis, and rightly so.

southeastdweller · 15/03/2018 19:10

Dear God, I’m surprised you’re considering this. Why on earth did you think that paying £23 a month would cover the heating over winter?!

TabbyMack · 15/03/2018 19:10

Do you realise that you’ve broken the law? Every single tenacy begins with a six month fixed term...by law. You cannot just move someone in on a “month-by-month” basis.

And, no, you cannot use their deposit for heating.

mikesh909 · 15/03/2018 19:12

If you ask if you are being unreasonable and posters find unanimously that you are being unreasonable, don't be surprised when you get told how unreasonable you're being.

Especially when the unreasonableness is hardly a conundrum, obvious as it is to most of us on legal as well as moral grounds.

Shinycat · 15/03/2018 19:12

Don't see anyone flaming you. Just aghast that a LANDLORD/LADY could actually think they could keep the tenants deposit because they screwed up the figures when charging rent including utility bills. Surely if you are a landlord/lady, you should know this basic fact?! Confused

And yeah, £23 per month is waaaay too low for any property! We have a small 2 bed home and only 2 of us here right now, and we are out half the day, and ours is £45 a month. And that is actually pretty low....

Cheby · 15/03/2018 19:14

You did put the deposit into a scheme, didn’t you?

It’s just the way you are writing suggests you didn’t. And if you didn’t, you have broken the law again and the tenants can sue you for 3x the deposit.

Shinycat · 15/03/2018 19:14

I mean

Surely if you are a landlord/lady, you should know this basic fact - that you cannot keep the deposit because you got the figures wrong and didn't charge them enough!!!

BritInUS1 · 15/03/2018 19:17

Don't forget that you may need to declare the rental income on a tax return for the period it was rented out

ILostItInTheEarlyNineties · 15/03/2018 19:18

In all the flats I rented when I was younger, I never got a penny of my deposit back from any of the landlords. They usually said they needed it for wear and tear or carpet cleaning or something.
I mean I had a few parties but still.

Well done for returning the deposit CherryPie maybe all landlords aren't wankers Grin

TheHungryDonkey · 15/03/2018 19:18

£25 is what we pay a month for electricity so it’s not weird low.

But as a foray into landlording, it’s a bit of a disaster.

cuttingcarbonemissions · 15/03/2018 19:18

You are REALLY lucky they actually moved out and did not report you over your failure to comply with the law governing landlord/tenant relationships.

Did you protect their deposit as legally required? Did you provide gas and electricity safety certificates? Legionnaires risk assessment? Was there an inventory of contents and condition of the property?

Penalties for failure to comply on deposits and gas and electricity safety can be huge. If they had decided to stay put and not pay rent it would have taken you months and cost you ££££££ to get them out.

SluttyButty · 15/03/2018 19:19

£23 a month for total electric including heating? Christ I moved from a village with no gas so had an electric sourced heating, that plus all the usual appliances was £100a month for a small 3 bed, so I’d say yours would be a good £50+ a month. If they were anything like me, I can’t have a cold house so all inclusive would mean keeping the place warm.

ILostItInTheEarlyNineties · 15/03/2018 19:19

I'm with Eon and they have increased their prices lately which won't help.

Ihatemyclients · 15/03/2018 19:20

If they were there for 5 months then it was only £110 a month which isn't over the odds IMO given how cold it has been. I suppose the danger of including bills in the rent is that there's no incentive to reduce usage so they were maybe a bit higher than average. At least you'll know better if you're in this situation again!

thegreatbeyond · 15/03/2018 19:20

Our house is tiny, and it's still about £75 for electric a month. No fancy appliances or anything.

cuttingcarbonemissions · 15/03/2018 19:21

Did you declare the rental income to HMRC?

www.propertyinvestmentproject.co.uk/blog/the-penalties-for-breaking-landlord-laws/

Shinycat · 15/03/2018 19:23

@thehungrydonkey

Sorry but £25 a month IS low for an electric bill. Much lower than average. You must never be in, like EVER.

MotherOfWurzel · 15/03/2018 19:24

This thread is landlord bashing (and no I am not a landlord, and have rented for many years). She has accepted she IBU and was unwise to have such an agreement.

People are just sticking the boot in now.

stitchglitched · 15/03/2018 19:25

Sorry but landlords who flout the law deserve to be flamed. If everyone had agreed with you would you have kept the deposit?

Redken24 · 15/03/2018 19:26

Our last quarterly was 687.
£23 a month must be bliss.

GabsAlot · 15/03/2018 19:27

ILOst

tghings are different now you have to rertun tghe deposit or prove why it cant be returned

its also held in a deposit scheme so no way to ge hold of it

Shinycat · 15/03/2018 19:32

@MotherofWurzel

This thread is landlord bashing (and no I am not a landlord, and have rented for many years). She has accepted she is BU and was unwise to have such an agreement.

People are just sticking the boot in now.

Don't be so bloody ludicrous and dramatic!

No-one is sticking the boot in!

And the OP has NOT said she is being unreasonable, all she has done is bitched about people 'flaming her' for not saying what she wanted to hear..

Pretty sure she hasn't said anything else after that! Certainly did not see her saying she was 'wrong' or 'unreasonable...' Hmm

Is that your only contribution to the thread, to 'tick people off?' If so,you can bore off!

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