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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Original poster

Uni household bills (second year students)

20 replies

healthyheart · 10/02/2017 16:53

So my DC is in the process of signing for student house for year two, sharing with four others. I get a text 'we're looking at companies for us to pay our bills with', delving a bit more, I discover they're each planning to pay £10 per week (I'm assuming 52 weeks) for elec, water & wifi ..... £2,500 pa ... someone is having a laugh right? Saying all the current second years do it and 'therefore it can't be bad' but I want to guide my DC & don't want them or others being taken for a ride. Can anyone advise me please thanks in advance.

OP posts:

Decorhate · 10/02/2017 17:06

My dd & her friends do something similar. It covers all the utilities, broadband, etc. Tbh I'm not sure if at the end of the year there is an adjustment or not to reflect the actual bills. However, for me I am happy with the system as no one has to take responsibility & try to get the others to cough up.

Original poster

healthyheart · 10/02/2017 17:09

Sorry I meant to add, considering too that they'll only actually be there up to 30 weeks pa.

OP posts:

Decorhate · 10/02/2017 17:11

Oh & we are a family of 5 & my direct debits for utilities & broadband come to a lot more than £2500 per annum. So I don't think that is necessarily high.

Original poster

healthyheart · 10/02/2017 17:15

Ok thanks decor. Trying not to get too involved but like to keep an eye out for them and yes I see what you mean about not covering others.

OP posts:

Haffdonga · 10/02/2017 17:22

My ds does this in his shared house this year. It protects them all in case somebody does a runner without paying their share of a hefty bill. (They only owe their proportion and not the rest). The companies do adjust if the bill is higher or lower but of course they take a cut, so it works out more expensive than just paying a direct debit bill.

AtiaoftheJulii · 10/02/2017 17:23

Yes, our bills are over that too - £40 or so a month sounds ok for bills doesn't it? My dd uses Split The Bills I think, but there are several others, but yes, they all take their cut. They get refunded if they overpay. I haven't got involved in it, but it seems simple enough. What's your worry?

Haffdonga · 10/02/2017 17:26

In ds's case he's in a house of 9 including a couple of rather flaky characters who couldn't be guaranteed to stick out the year or pay up if they left mid term. I thought the few pounds extra ds pays is insurance for his own credit history.

PUGaLUGS · 10/02/2017 17:38

DS is in his second year in a house with 6 others. (There were 8 but one left to go and live with her boyfriend).

They have designated students looking after one bill. DS looks after the internet. When the bill arrives everyone pays their share into his account and he pays the bill. The one that left didn't pay when she was there. She didn't pay for three months. DS cut her internet off. She then stumped up the money.

AtiaoftheJulii · 10/02/2017 18:27

Not so easy if you're the one looking after the water bill! Hence all the splitting apps

Crumbs1 · 10/02/2017 18:30

Ours always had houses where bills were included in rent.save arguments over boyfriends using electricity, heating etc.

Original poster

healthyheart · 10/02/2017 19:33

Thanks all! My mind is more at rest and Atia my worry was thinking they're being ripped off! No way is our water/wifi/elec £2,500 a year - I didn't realise they potentially get refunded at the end, thanks for the info.

OP posts:

PUGaLUGS · 10/02/2017 20:04

Atia I did suggest using a company to help them but I could only suggest and not make them. Luckily they are all a good bunch except for the one that left. Her rent was paid up front in full though as she was a looked after child. DH did read and sign the rent agreement which I am sure said none of the others were liable for any unpaid rent by another housemate.

EnormousTiger · 11/02/2017 10:53

Do be careful. My oldeer son just let out his first house and his letting agent tried to force/trick him into making his tenants take some gas/elec service by default (ie no choice over provider). Presumably the letting agent has some bulk deal and he had to actively opt out of it to ensure his tenants did not have it foisted on them.

However I can understand the sense in a splitting type app but I bet there's a catch.

homebythesea · 12/02/2017 09:41

My DS has just signed up for a house where rent includes bills. The tenancy agreement states that the bills element is calculated at £9 per week per person and if at the end the actual costs are considerably more than that then there will be an adjustment. So your £10 a week sounds about right.

Raisinbrain · 12/02/2017 10:11

This is a great idea! When I was in my second year I had a couple of bills in my name that I was constantly having to chase everyone else for. At one point one of my housemates ran up a £100 phone bill using premium porn sites! Luckily he did pay me back for it. Another housemate never paid me back his share on a bill though and left me out of pocket.

Wandaback · 12/02/2017 11:00

DS1 used Glide in his first house which worked quite well.

DS2 has just signed up for a house for his second year and the rent includes all bills, fuel, water, broadband and TV licence. There is no amount specified though whatever it is it's extortionate as he has to have a 12 month tenancy when they only need 10.

homebythesea · 12/02/2017 12:53

wanda the 12 month tenancy is very normal for student lets - from the landlord's point of view there is mortgage to pay for 12 months so why would they go without income for 2 months a year? In any event DS rent over 12 months will be considerably less than what he us currently paying in Halls!

Wandaback · 12/02/2017 15:05

Yes Home I know it's true, lots do have 12 month lets, and it's cheaper than halls but DS1 has always had 11 month student tenancies as do many others I know.
It's made worse because the tenancy is from July when they don't go back to uni until the end of September.
Yet it's still cheaper than halls.
I reckon the landlord is doing very well on it at £26000 a year for a rental income on a terraced house.

homebythesea · 12/02/2017 17:24

I hear you Wanda- DH and I were just discussing earlier that the return on those student houses is way higher than our buy to let flats which are lived in by young professionals! However I imagine the maintenance costs will be somewhat higher......

Allthebestnamesareused · 13/02/2017 09:24

My son had tenancy agreements for 12 months that included all bills (including wifi and sky tv !!) However for July and August the rent was at half the rate to the other 10 months as (rightly) it assumed the students may not be there during those months. One student did actually stay on as she had a job nearby for the summer so she obviously benefited.

The other plus side of the 12 month tenancy is, assuming they stay on for the subsequent year, they didn't have to remove all their belongings.

6 students x £4,500 a year = £27,000 (in Lancaster) - pretty good return for the landlord I say but was still the cheapest way for the individual student to live.

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