The heating on and the windows open
Your student houses are let with bills included, which is what students and parents want. The tenancy has a fair use clause with an allowance for energy. In practice nobody knows how each house is doing until the supplier bills arrive, or until the end of the tenancy when someone totals up a year of statements. By then the house of five with the heating on full since October has used far more than the allowance, and a charge in July feels like an ambush.
Why fair use caps are hard to apply
The allowance is written into the tenancy, but the data needed to measure against it is spread across supplier accounts, estimated bills, and meter readings taken on the odd inspection. Estimated bills make it worse, because the numbers look real but are guesses.
- Usage is checked annually, not monthly.
- Supplier bills are often estimates, so they cannot be compared with the allowance.
- Meter readings are taken on inspections, if at all, and stored in notes.
- Tenants have no idea how close they are to the cap.
- Excess charges are worked out by hand at the end of the tenancy.
What overruns cost
Energy you have paid for above the allowance is lost margin unless it is recovered. Recovering it at the end of the year leads to disputes, because tenants never had a chance to adjust. Not recovering it means the fair use clause does nothing. Either way, your team spends time working out figures house by house from supplier statements.
The usage tracking we build
- Readings are collected per house: from smart meter data where your supplier or a data provider allows access, or from tenants submitting a photo of the meter each month through a simple link.
- Photo readings are read automatically, checked against previous readings for sense, and sent to a person if they look wrong.
- Each house's usage to date is compared with the allowance for the same point in the tenancy, adjusted for the season, because winter always uses more.
- Tenants get a short monthly update showing where their house stands, and a warning if they are on track to go over.
- At the end of the tenancy, any excess is calculated under your fair use terms and split across the tenants, ready for your team to approve.
- Your team sees all houses on one screen, sorted by how far they are from the allowance.
| House status | Tenant message | Team action |
|---|---|---|
| Well within allowance | Monthly summary | None |
| On track to reach the cap | Early warning with tips on heating use | None unless it continues |
| Over the allowance so far | Clear warning | Check readings, contact house |
| Reading missing or odd | Request for a new photo | Review |
The allowance, the excess calculation and whether to charge are set by your tenancy terms and your own advisers. We apply them as you set them.
What bills-included looks like after
Tenants know where they stand during the year, not after it. Most houses adjust once they see the numbers. At the end of the tenancy, excess charges are rare, calculated consistently and backed by monthly readings the tenants themselves submitted. Your team can spot a faulty boiler or a meter problem from unusual readings instead of discovering it on a bill.
Is this your bills-included portfolio?
- You check energy use against the fair use cap once a year.
- Supplier bills for your houses are often estimated.
- End-of-tenancy excess charges lead to arguments.
- Tenants have no idea how much energy their house is using.
- Working out excess charges is done by hand.