SMF - Just Installed!

End of tenancy but spending some weeks/months upgrading - Utilities question

Started by peterdallan, January 28, 2021, 10:33:27 PM

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peterdallan

Good evening all,

I bought an investment property 10 years ago, and believe it or not the tenant and his wife have just left after 10 years.

They are moving out tomorrow morning and they have notified utilities and council tax of their completion date.

I would like to spend the next month or two of lockdown re-painting, re-flooring and other usual improvements. Actually, I could do the work in a weekend with help if needed, but it suits me to take my time and wait for spring/summer.

My question is whether I can sign up for electricity/gas, currently with Scottish Power, for just as long as I need it. Perhaps something like a monthly rolling contract?

The BB is with Community Fibre and they offer this, but I am not aware of being able to do this with electricity/gas.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

regards

Peter


Hippogriff

Just change it to your name... on whatever the existing deal is... I don't know what the problem you are foreseeing is? What do you want a monthly rolling contract for? It's normal practice for the liability to change from Tenant to Landlord and back to Tenant where there are void periods... the liability doesn't just evaporate or the old or new Tenant pays on your behalf. Try that with Council Tax! This is true of utilities and Council Tax even if it's a few days... the utility companies are used to it... they get it all the time, believe it or not. Some can even have you noted down as The Landlord... a kind of secondary account contact (no liability for the debts arising from the usage of others), so you don't have to go through the rigmarole of telling them who you are each time... you are probably asking this question because it's been 10 years, right? Hopefully you've prepped well for all the new legislation and obligations that have come in in the meantime?

peterdallan

Many thanks for the reply. As you mentioned they obviously do this a lot and the switches were effortless. Scottish Power, Thames Water and Community Fibre were all excellent,.

Appreciate you taking the time to advise me.

The estate agent I used to rent the property kept me up to date with all new legislation but now it has ended I'll make sure I check out new rules etc before renting it out again.

Cheers

Peter