Unjustified big increase in gas charge

[Pezza54]

I am struggling to understand what incentive there is for a tenant to turn the heating down in their flat when individual tenants are not billed for the amount of heat and hot water they use.
Knowing that their heating is shared with all other tenants could make a selfish tenant turn up their room thermostat and thermostatic radiator valves

[register]

And, this is the problem, the council also does not have any incentive to manage the heating in a better way because it does not have any incentive to negotiate better deal with its gas supplier or to shop around by contracting another supplier and it is why the gas costs are so high, except maybe if I make a complaint which could encourage the council to manage in a better way the heating

[islandgirl]

As previously suggested get in touch with your local councillor - they should advocate on your behalf and have the ear of officers

[register]

I have done searches in the Internet and I found out that the Council is charging me the double of the average gas bill

[islandgirl]

Have you contacted your councillor and asked them to sort this out for you? That is what they are there for. (I know, I am one!)

[PallasAthena]

Posting here about how unjustified the price is won't get you any further forward.

You can:

- Put in SAR and FoI requests and challenge the pricing youself

- Contact the residents association (if there is one), or discuss with other tenants and approach the council as a group

- Contact your local councillor and ask them if they can help.

Which of those are you planning to do?

Come back and let us know the outcome.

Good luck.

[echat11]

I have done searches in the Internet and I found out that the Council is charging me the double of the average gas bill

Maybe you are due a refund, we don't know.

It might also be worth contacting your MP.

[register]

I searched in the Internet for comparison with one-bedroom flat and I found several examples which say that the average gas bill is half what the Council charges us what is obviously no acceptable also because in communal heating we should pay less because gas can be bought in bulk and there is only one boiler in the building instead of one in each flat.

I have difficulty to understand how the council can charges me twice more than the average gas bill and I am wondering if a city council servant received a bribe from a gas supplier so that city council accepts to pay a higher price without changing of supplier because anyway the tenants of these one-bedroom flats can do nothing against this

[islandgirl]

Except you can...do as advised above and bring this to light - let us know how you get on

[echat11]

Most Councils has a complaints route, an online form you can fill in online.

[register]

We are in an abnormal situation because communal heating exists only in social housing and in social housing we are supposed to pay less than in private housing. However, in my case I am paying double than in private housing as demonstrated by my Internet researches.

Is it not the duty of the Council to manage the service charges in a way that the tenants has to pay a reasonable amount and not twice more than in the private housing? Is it not this the purpose of Social Housing in which most of tenants are in low income?

[echat11]

We are in an abnormal situation because communal heating exists only in social housing and in social housing we are supposed to pay less than in private housing. However, in my case I am paying double than in private housing as demonstrated by my Internet researches.

Is it not the duty of the Council to manage the service charges in a way that the tenants has to pay a reasonable amount and not twice more than in the private housing? Is it not this the purpose of Social Housing in which most of tenants are in low income?

Post 18, 20, 21, 24, 25 etc answer your questions.

[PallasAthena]

register I see you have posted about this on another advice site and you are getting a similar advice there.

Spending your time on a keyboard searching the internet for random "facts" about gas prices is getting you nowhere. and leading you up irrelevant blind alleys (it isn't true that for gas "...in social housing we are supposed to pay less than in private housing ...[because] most of tenants are in low income...."). You need actual data on costs related to your flat from your council. You can't move forward effectively without that.

You've been advised several times to put in FOI and SAR requests. Have you done that yet?

Tenants in your block need to work together and bring a joint complaint. As a group you are more likely to be listened to (as long as you have done your homework on the council's costs), on your own you will be fobbed off as you have already discovered. Have you discussed this with other tenants? Is there a residents' association?

And contact your local Councillor. That's what they are there for.

[PallasAthena]

Most Councils has a complaints route, an online form you can fill in online.

According to OP in Post #1 he has already done this and had a Stage 1 response. He could take it to Stage 2 but he would probably be wasting his time if doesn't obtain actual data about the council's costs and pricing.

I have been through stage 1 of the council's complaint procedure because I have looked in the Internet and I have not found any evidence that there has not been an increase of 60% of the gas price last year.
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The council has replied to me that this increase is due to the high cost of energy and that it is necessary.
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I would like to know on which grounds I can take up my complaint to stage 2 of the council's complaint procedure ....

[echat11]

According to OP in Post #1 he has already done this and had a Stage 1 response. He could take it to Stage 2 but he would probably be wasting his time.

Before he can take the matter to the LGO, he has to complete all the stages in the Councils complaints procedure. It's 'long winded', 'ridiculous' and 'totally inefficient', but it is what it is.

If he doesn't they'll just 'bat' it back to the Council.