Student house of freezing teenagers - heating on? No

[Uneek]

My DD lives in a student rental with 5 others, with rent and bills split evenly between them. A couple of them are refusing to put the heating on. When my DD has suggested having it on with the thermostat set at a low temp, one of them said she should just put another jumper on. When DD said she would buy a plug in electric heater for her bedroom, the 'put another jumper on' student said she would not pay towards the electricity for the heater as it costs more than gas.

This has turned into a competition to see how long they can go with no heating. 'Another jumper on' student even suggested seeing if they can last until Christmas!

Has anyone else come across this issue? Suggestions on how to stop a war breaking out in this house and allow them to defrost...

Ridiculous. Agree with other posters: get an oil-filled electric radiator for her room, and a heated blanket. Totally absurd to expect other people to be cold and if you live in a shared house with an agreement to share bills then you have to suck that up, you can't expect other people to be cold and breach standard terms of tenancy agreements and force others to be complicit in that, just because you can tolerate a lower temperature than they can. 🙄

When I was a student (many many years ago) one year we had an "all inclusive rent" for our shared house.....the heating was on 24/7. Those were the days

It’s tough though because ds is sharing with people who it appears money is no object and they want the heating on constantly. For ds money is a huge concern (and for me) so he is trying to hold out as long as possible.

Same, except for the well off person who put her heating on all the time and refused to put more money in the coin meter.

When I was a student we couldn't afford to have the heating on! We all wore lots of layers and I did most of my work in bed under the duvet!

It's not ideal but if some people can't afford the increased costs I'm not sure what they're supposed to do about it.

Are they at Durham? Seems to be A Thing ...

I had to order my sons to put on the heating in their flat last night - they were planning to never put it on. Although, we only put on our heating yesterday as well, just for a short time.

As a PP said just get her a heated throw - the others don't need to know.

I think it's up to your daughter to figure out.

Ughhh this girl your daughter is living with sounds like a right madam. I have lived with girls like her in the past.
Get DD a small heater, she can keep it in her room and spoilt madam doesn't need to know she has it. A jumper does not stop your whole body being cold - does she suggest DD wears gloves so she can study, hold a pen and type on a laptop? A hat to stop cold ears? Ridiculous.

I think she needs to learn conflict resolution and negotiation skills

And also just switch it on and deal with the aftermath

Part of being a student and entering the adult world is learning the skills to navigate these situations

They also need to think about clearing off for Xmas with zero heating on and coming back to burst pipes and ruined belongings

Got water bottles we have reverted too. Surely she will be ‘allowed’ to boil a kettle.

My student self would have questioned what this 'heating' is you speak of.

Student house (single skinned so absolutely no insulation), gas fires, coin op gas metre, no money. Gas went on for cooking.

Not your circus, not your monkeys.

Maybe buy her a heated throw for Christmas but otherwise stay out of it.

Yeah get her a secret heated blanket. I had a secret mini fridge in my uni room because somebody kept taking my food.

TABU
This is not your issue to sort out OP.

Getting flashbacks of my uni house. Almost froze to death one winter; snowing outside and housemate’s absolutely refused to consider the heating as they’d rather use the money for nights out. I invested in a heated blanket without telling them and just about survived with very thick socks and throws.

I think is there room in halls somewhere to move out!! Miserable housemates

They need to have a house meeting with all housemates and put it to a vote on what they feel is reasonable. If some of the housemates are struggling financially they need to contact student support as most unis are offering support to students affected by the cost of living crisis. They also need to look at ways together they can reduce other costs eg could they work together to reduce their electric bill so they can spend more on their heating bill. They will need to be careful with drying clothes, ventilation of the house etc in order to avoid damp and condensation as others have said.

Students have been pretty much forgotten in the whole cost of living crisis... I don't think maintenance loans have gone up at all, despite being a pittance in the first place, but even things like milk are up 50% and student finance just hasn't kept pace.

Can they actually afford to put the heating on? We sat with hot water bottles up our jumpers when I was a student.

If you go for the discreetly buy a radiator route, I have just bought an oil filled heater from screwfix - 1.5kwh. It came in a plain brown cardboard box with no indication of the content. The cheapest was £30. I bought the programmable at £35. Delivery is a bit hefty at £5/6 though but I got it on a next day.

When I was a student we didn't have central heating in private rented accommodation. Am I the first person to say this on this thread?

Assuming they're in a shared house, they will almost certainly be on a joint contract, meaning that they are all jointly and severally liable for the whole debt, and are on a fixed term contract until the end of the academic year. In other words, moving out wouldn't end their liability for the rent owed on this house.

@GnomeDePlume oh yes you probably shared a house with me. 1981 our toothbrushes froze in the bathroom.