As a landlord for a single property I charge rent that includes all bills. The rent has remained the same since the start of the current tenancy many years ago.
Today I read this: "Tenants whose bills are included in their rent could miss out on the government's £400 energy rebate because it is paid to their landlord, warn charities.
Housing charity Shelter said this group were 'at the mercy of their landlord passing on this much-needed support'.
An estimated 585,000 households - 13% of private renters - have energy bills included in their rent.
The government said it expected landlords to pass on the discount.
The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) also said that where a landlord was acting as an energy reseller, 'they should be passing on the savings to their tenant in line with [the regulator] Ofgem's requirements'."
I fail to see why I should in effect reduce the rent I receive when I have not increased the rent in line with increased energy costs. My role as "reseller" so far has been to subsidise my tenants' consumption of energy. I don't see why I should add to that subsidy.
Comments welcome.
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Landlords and energy bill discount new