Will UC housing element also pay hot water and heating costs?

[Question8383]

Posting for traffic as I posted on the Property/DIY board but didn’t receive any comments. I’d really appreciate advice as I need to make a decision soon!

I’ve put in an offer for a rental property that’s been accepted by the Landlord. The Estate Agents called me today saying that the Landlord has only now revealed that they will be charging £200 a month to cover hot water and heating costs which will be on top of the monthly £1900 PCM rent. This will also be written into the tenancy agreement.

I told the EA to withdraw the offer because £2100 is way above my LHA which is £1944. The EA suggested to put in an offer for £1800 PCM and with the £200 additional charge, that will take the monthly total up to £2000. Now, here’s my question.

As the £200 charge will be written in my tenancy, will this also be covered by the housing element? Will I receive £1944 a month by UC and have to top it up by £56. Or will UC pay £1800 which is the official rent price and I’ll have to cover the £200 by myself? I’m struggling to find an answer on this so I’d be helpful to hear from those in the same situation and are on UC

I'm not on UC but I believe you will have to pay the bills and the tenancy will state rent xx and bills xx

I think UC will just pay the LHA rate and you will need to top up the £56 plus the extra for heating and hot water, just as of you were paying for gas and electricity in the normal way. If you are really struggling I think you can apply for a discretionary housing payment.

Well, you'd have had to pay your gas, electric and water anyway wouldn't you? How would you have paid that as separate bills?

And no, I doubt that UC will cover it as its not part of the DHP.

Not your original question but how is the £200 for hot water and heating worded? A tenancy can include bills or specific bills but I would check out the legal position on a £200 charge. If it isn't with a separate bills company and there's any chance the bills won't come to that amount that would make the landlord an energy supplier which is whole different ballgame of regulation. www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/problems-with-your-energy-supply/what-your-landlord-can-charge-for-energy/

If the tenancy agreement says, ‘£2000 rent PCM’ and somewhere within the tenancy there’s a small clause that says, ‘£1800 to be paid directly to EA and £200 to be paid to LL to cover heating + hw,’ I’m simply asking whether I’ll be given the full amount of my LHA or whether £1800 will be paid and I cover the £200 myself. Nowhere have I mentioned anything about applying for a DHP.

I’d really appreciate to hear from those on UC who may have a similar sort of set up in their tenancy agreement. I find it more helpful hearing from those with first hand experiences. I have asked the question on my journal too so hopefully I have an answer either way

Hi, I had central heating and hot water included in my rental contract. UC only paid towards for rent element based on the LHA rates.
They won't pay towards the bills and I'd be careful to ensure actual rental amount is declared in your change of circumstances.

Your heating and hot water is an ineligible charge. UC will only pay the rent element, and as you say, that’ll be capped at your LHA rate (dictated by where you live and how many bedrooms your household is entitled to).

Where I live now, all the flats within the block share the hot water + heating. The Landlord gets a yearly bill which is paid for by him to the council.

When looking at new properties on the market, I can see that some will include the hot water + h bill into the monthly rent charge (they’ve upped the rental amount to cover this charge). So I assume the Landlord will be paying the £200 to the council when they get the yearly billing and not to a specific energy supplier. Would the same thing apply in this situation?

I'd have a word with Shelter because it sounds dodgy as fuck.

Why should they? You should be paying your own heat and hot water like everyone else - UC only help with basic rent

They will only pay X in rent and sometimes X in service charges if this is a utility they will not cover it.

However you would need to pay utilities anyway if renting so you need to work out if £200 is towards what you would be paying out of your own pocket for gas and electric. Not clear whether it’s electricity or gas including water?

You are aware that the LHA won't cover all that rent (unless you live in London and have a 'need' for four+ bedrooms)

Apologies; just re-read and it says your LHA is £1944

UC housing element will only cover the rent, any bills paid to the landlord will have to be covered another way. I would also make sure who is responsible for any shortfall in the heating/water costs, many of those communal systems are getting very old and people are being hit with massive bills at the end of the year. Not to mention that fact that you can't ever economise on that bill, you are at the mercy of your possibly wasteful neighbours.

UC will not cover service charges. I rent and get UC and I pay service charges to my housing association, they are not included in UC.

Out of interest though you would have to pay utility bills anyway so what's the difference as to who you pay them to?

No, only the rental element for housing will be covered.

You're expected to pay for your own utilities.

My friend is in a over 55 accomodation that includes heating and hot water
Rent is 800 inc heating / water

universal credit pay his rent but not his heating / electric.

he has to pay 200 towards his rent / bills

£200 a month for hot water and heating seems like a reasonable amount to pay?

Is this social housing or a private landlord? (Relevant before a correct answer can be given)

Nowhere did I say the amount isn’t reasonable and nowhere did I say I rather not pay the costs directly to the Landlord. I was simply asking how UC works it out if the hot water and heating charges were added into the rent amount. That’s all.

Thank you to those that have answered the question

Sorry I don’t have any advice but why on earth would a landlord want to do this? Unless it’s for dodgy reasons…

Granted I have only lived independently in 2 different properties under the same LL, but tenants are responsible for the bills and if you were to not pay, this wouldn’t come back to the landlord.

Unless they are concerned you will default on your bills and that will result in a prepayment meter being installed on the property? It still sounds really weird to me.

Ignore the people who don't know what they're talking about and take a look here

Unless things have changed recently then I'm pretty sure in a private rental then UC pay the total rent that's on the tenancy agreement, or the LHA - whichever is lower.

Ineligible charges relate to social housing tenants.

I wouldn’t think £200 was reasonable for just hot water and gas either, unless your property is large and you have a big family. Does it say anything in the tenancy agreement about what will happen if you have overpaid, and will you have access to the billing to see whether you have overpaid or not?

You’re joking. Unless it’s a massive house. We pay £110 a month for a three bed terrace with two adults and a toddler (and one adult works from home). That builds up a great credit for the winter we never need to pay any more.

I'd have thought because it makes things easier for landlords to manage, I work for an energy company and often tenants don't bother to get in touch to let us know they have moved in so the landlord ends up having to do it.