Moving to a property without a water meter.

[ChristmasSchmistmas]

We are due to be moving in January. We are HA and are swapping with another HA property. Currently in a property with a water meter. Family of 4. Pay £38 per month.

The property we are moving to has a shared supply so can't have a water meter. The yearly rate for a family of four with the discount applied is £635 which is £52 a month but due to go up next year significantly apparently.

I'm just worried it is a mistake moving to a property where there isn't an option to be metered as although I can stretch to cover the extra £14 for now, if it gets ridiculously expensive I'm going to really struggle.

What do people think? Is it generally affordable for a family of 4 on a fixed rate? I may be over stressing as it's a stressful time of year for me anyway without a house move on top of it!

I mean, on the plus side, you will not need to worry about water consumption. Fancy a bath every day? No problem! Using a pressure washer? Why the hell not.

Water meters are a blessing if you generally consume less than an average household your size. They're a curse if you like to be wasteful (or own a property and have a leak). It's also why unmetered properties are usually on a higher charge.

When I rented with all bills, including electricity and gas, included (because the landlord couldn't work out bills for individual peoperties in a block of flats), boy was my flat always at least 25 degress C and I baked more than once a week.

Can the water company not fit one internally just on your supply pipe ?

I agree it’s annoying, as you’ll be paying for more than you actually use. It will also go up steadily every year, as they usually increase the rate with inflation (although this is also the case for metered water rates so not much you can really do about it). I used to live in a non-metered property so wouldn’t say it’s a deal breaker if you can afford a little bit extra.

If I move in I can ask the water company to assess the property and see if it can be metered but the previous tenants did this and were told it couldn't be. We are generally quite frugal with water so I would be paying more for something I don't use although I would probably use more to feel like I'm getting my moneys worth. What worries me is the rates rising each year and it reaching a point I can't afford it any more but not being able to switch to a meter.
Moving again wouldn't be an option as its next to impossible to swap HA properties. It's taken me long enough to find this swap.

Water costs do seem to vary tremendously depending on where one lives. We are not on a meter and neither were my parents. The annual cost for the house you are buying is nearly 3 times what we pay in our 3 bed cottage. Costs will go up next year but that does seem a lot.

I am in the South West and things do seem to always be more expensive here.

I have a fixed rate due to a shared supply it’s cheaper. Even for one person, it will be so cheap for 4.

When I moved from a metered house I was paying £25 a month. The new house didn't have a water meter so I requested one rather than pay the unmetered amount which was almost double.

The water board came and spent 3 hours trying to find the pipe outside but in the end decided that they couldn't fit one externally and internally was too awkward, so I have a special ' we could t fit a meter' rare based on my old consumption.

Don’t see why it can’t be metered. My meter is under my kitchen sink, just over the stopcock.

You need to investigate if it really is an entirely shared supply or if the incomer supply splits at some point to your flat and if so where, and can you afford to have a possible 'hatch' put in so that a water meter can be attached and accessible.
Many 'shared' water supplies in SH flats are just that the incomer split is under the floor in a communal area and needs an inspection access hatch putting in and the SH landlord doesn't want the cost or hassle and leaves the tenants with higher bills to save theirs.
Lots of strange 're-modelling' of flats (squeezing more and more into original footprints) has gone on here repeatedly, and we were told everyone was on a shared supply, but it turns out all but me and around three others actually didn't really have shared supplies, with everyone else having entirely separate split hidden incomer pipes, that could take a meter if an access hatch could be created. Tenants had to pay for it here.

(shared supply costs reduce if young adults later move out btw)

water charges are set to rise - but that will be for rated and metered properties.

How long ago was the request to install a meter turned down? Just because it wasn't in their plans at one stage doesn't mean it isn't now.

Many SH properties are house conversions into multiple flats/rooms and don't have separate stopcocks, let alone meters, just one per original building.

Our multiple occupation flats have independently metered gas but also turned out to only have a single stopcock for all of them, so one off, all off, for as long as it takes.

They won't take cupboards out or cut them.
Yours will have sat above the bottom but not every house has enough water pipe

Our old house couldn't have a water meter, so we would call them each year and negotiate a lower rate
As pp said you also get super relaxed about usage!

Yes I will have to ask the water company to carry out a new assessment and see what's what. It is a semi detached house so I'm not sure why it can't be metered. The last assessment was done 7 years ago and the notes say the stop clock couldn't be located and that it was a presumed shared supply.

I'm just stressing about it as once I go ahead with the swap there will be no backing out as I will be adequately housed and it is very difficult to find swaps.

When we moved to our previous house in 2000, it didn't have a meter. Water rates were £800 pa. We had one fitted and paid about £30 month then.

If the external stop cock can’t be located that’s their problem not yours they need to find it to prove your on a shared supply
they may offer you to separate so you have your one supply so that can be metered but I think that would be the HA decision
as far as I remember as long as they can fit the meter manifold above your internal stop cock you can have a meter installed even if you get your own plumber to install an internal one

Thank you for this info.