When you’re letting out a room you can choose to advertise the bills as included in the rent. Some people write it like this: “£600 pcm (bills inc.)”.
It’s an option that suits many tenants and landlords alike. But what are the benefits, and what are the costs? Let’s have a look at why you might want to advertise a room with bills included.
Landlords
Don’t worry, we don’t just mean people who own whole houses! This section applies to resident landlords, people who take on lodgers, and also you guys out there trying to fill a spare room in your house share.In house shares, sorting out the bills is always a pain. Who is responsible for which utility? How should the money be paid to the bill-payer, and when? These are all really dull questions to deal with. By including the bill money that an incoming tenant pays in the rent, it keeps everything simple.
You, the landlord, get the money directly, and then you can simply use put in the same account your standing bill order comes out of.
Oh, what? You don’t have a standing order? Grow up! Get one! Get one now! For every monthly expense! Thank us later.If you have a house share with a high tenant turn-over rate, or just take on short-term renters, including bills in the rent is a must. This way you know you’ll never be left with an unpaid bill if a tenant makes a speedy move to another house.
Tenants
When you look around a house share or new flat, it’s important to find out how much the bills are from the tenants themselves. If the place is bills-included, ask directly what the rent price is and then the amount of the monthly price that is composed of bills.Don’t be put off if the bills included price seems a little higher than you might expect. If the rent is £500 and the bills-included price is £550, but you got the impression that the bills probably came to about £40 a month, just remember that not having to worry about paying bills is probably worth £10 a month. Internet, gas, electricity, water, council tax… it all takes time to sort out. Plus, if anything breaks (like the boiler), it’s the bill-payer who has to sort it out.Remember that if you pay bills-included, you won’t have any power to change suppliers. If the internet is always terrible and you don’t pay the bill directly, you might find it really hard to change provider.
Looking for bills-included properties is the best option for short lets, since you don’t want to take time setting up how to pay if you’re only there a few months.
