UK Landlord Forum / Life

Our tenants have asked their energy supplier to fit a smart meter, however some pipe work needs to be moved to accommodate it which will be done by another contractor, not the energy provider. Who is liable to pay the contractor for the extra work? I am thinking that as the tenant has instigated the work, by requesting the smart meter, they should pay for it. Am I wrong?

Are you planning on keeping these Tenants forever?

If not I wouldn't allow them to change over to a Smart Meter. And - most - ASTs would have a clause in there saying agreement / permission would be needed. Yes, they can change supplier, but that's a different thing entirely.

And of course it's not your responsibility to pay a Contractor for extra work - has it been suggested?

Hi Jack.

Smart Meters are a tricky subject that I experienced with my last tenants.

After moving out  and I took meter readings to my absolute surprise I found both my meters had been changed to smart ones.

My tenants nor estate agent ever advised me this happened nor actually asked my permission to change them.

When I queried this with the agent I was told as they were the tenants using and paying the utilties at the property they could basically do whatever they wanted (despite not being responsible for the structure of the building). I couldn't believe this and after googling I found Ofgem advised if the Landlord pays the bills it's their decision, if it's the tenant's paying a Landlord cannot unreasonably prevent it.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/getting-smart-meter

However it seems that with my potential new tenants moving in, I put in the addendum they shouldn't change the meters without permission, the estate agent turned around and said this was in the tenancy agreement already! Which if this had been the case with the first tenants I had, they wouldn't have been able to change it eventhough they just did what they wanted without asking me first!

So it seems I wasn't able to get a straight answer from my agent. But I'd advise to check your tenancy agreement, if it states they're not allowed to change them without permission and they have signed this agreement. They've agreed to this clause.

The problem with tenancy clauses that try and stop tenants from doing things they're meant to be allowed to, is that a) they might be deemed unfair if challenged and b) what are you going to do to enforce the term.

Even if you own your own property, you don't (technically) own the meters and your power supplier can change the meter without your consent (and will routinely get a court order if you try and stop them).

Why on earth would anyone object to there being a smart meter in use - it's different if it's a pay in advance meter.

Depends on the smart meter, some are just a LED display that keep you awake all night while you watch your money being zapped away by vampire appliances simple connections to existing wiring, some are a whole new meter that incorporate a remotely operated shut off valve or isolation switch, so if you get behind on the bills they close off the gas or turn off the electric.   

Quote from: Revo on September 11, 2022, 05:45:31 AMDepends on the smart meter, some are just a LED display that keep you awake all night while you watch your money being zapped away by vampire appliances simple connections to existing wiring, some are a whole new meter that incorporate a remotely operated shut off valve or isolation switch, so if you get behind on the bills they close off the gas or turn off the electric.

A smart meter isn't the same as a smart monitor, which is the LED display, it's basically a meter that can usually send the readings to the energy company without someone having to update them.

An energy supplier has to follow a process to end your supply, they can't just switch the power off.
And if you have a smart meter, you're basically only saving the supplier going to court to get access to your property to cut you off, so it's actually cheaper for you.

In reality, it's almost impossible for a landlord to prevent a tenant installing a smart meter if they want to.
However, if their is other work needed to install one than the energy supplier can do, the landlord doesn't have to allow that either.

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