Endesa

I have just recently been bereaved and I am thinking of moving to another rental apartment. I have to apply to have water and electricity in my name.  Can anyone tell me how much this costs and do I have to pay a monthly rental for the meters.  Any help in this matter would be very much appreciated.

Linda.

Sorry to hear of your loss.  Any apartment I have rented long term  regarding electricity meters etc has always been dealt with the agents that are renting them out unless of course this is a private rental. In that case I am sorry but don't know the answer but don't think you have to pay rental for meters, should be just a matter of contacting companies and asking for change of name on bills. 

I would of thought whoever you are renting from would sort it out for you.   Karen

Hi Linda

Sorry to hear that.

It depends on the rental agent or landlord as to how they want to play it in this regard.

Some landlords pay the bills and then charge it back to the tenants.  Others change the name of the contracts over to the tenants.  Some keep the contracts in their own names but change the bank details to that of the tenant.

So you need to ask what the landlord intends to do.

You shouldn't have to pay any connection charges as that is the responsibility of the landlord, but you will have a monthly charge for both water and electricity.  I haven't got any bills to refer to with me here but water is normally less than electricity and the electricity monthly fee is dependent on the contracted capacity for the property.

Not sure if all that makes any sense now!

Justin

And as far as I am aware the rental of meters is included in your monthly bill and not a separate.  Is that correct Justin?

Yes, the meter rental is included in the monthly bill.

Justin

Thanks for all your info.

It is a company who owns the properties (which are brand new) and they say I have to go to Endesa and the water authority to register!  They have told me it would be approx: 100 euros each to register! What I really need to know is, does anyone know if this would include rental charges or would I have to pay that on top of my bill.  I have also been told that after the first year I would have to pay community fees + an increase according to the retail price index!  As I am on my own, I do not want to be ripped off!!

Linda.

 Hi Linda

Sorry to hear about your recent bereavement.  

As the property is new, it's still on developers supply and yes, the charge for putting the contract into your name may well be 100eur each.  (If it was a normal rental apartment whereby you were just changing from the old occupants name, then it would be cheaper)   Some of this amount will relate to a 'deposit' and is, in theory, refundable should you ever cancel the contracts thereafter.  The actual meter rental charge for both water and electricity is minimal and is automatically included in your bills.  With regards to the RPI increase onto rent, this is the norm when you are signing a permanent residential rental contract which normally runs for 5 years.  In a way, it does safeguard you from greedy landlords who want to hike up the rent by hundred of euros after the first year.  In Spain it is known as the IPC and you can check it on the website of the Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas (unfortunately EOS won't let me load up their link for you).  It is rarely more than 2 or 2.5%, so it won't be anything drastic.  I would just be very careful about having to pay community fees after the first year - check out what these are going to be as they are often very, very expensive - particularly in light of the fact that as a tenant, you won't have any right to vote at the Community Meetings.  

I hope this helps.

regards from MizzFixit

MizzFix.

Thanks for your reply, very helpful.

Below is what my agent wrote to me, hope you understand.

Confirm that after 1^st year the price is increase with Ipc and community fees around 35euros.

Regards,

Linda.

 Hi Linda

Just make sure that it's written into the contract.  As you have an agent, she should take care of your interests ;)

regards

Thanks again MizzFixIt

Regards,

Linda.

 I understand the properties are new but it's not normally the responsibility of the tenant to get the electricity and water connected (and pay for it too!) and it's also not normal for the tenant to pay community fees.  That is the landlord's responsibility.

Unless you are getting the property at some amazing rental price, I would be a little bit weary as to the extra costs you are having to pay which you wouldn't normally have to, being a tenant.

Justin

Hi Justin

I agree that it's not the norm, however putting utility contracts into tenants' names is becoming more popular in order that the landlord doesn't get left with huge bills at the end of the tenancy.  The fact that Linda has having to pay such large amounts is because it's new and clearly the developer/promotor is taking advantage (that's my polite way of saying it!!).   There is a development in La Cala called Vitania and they are doing exactly the same thing.  

Hopefully she's got a great deal on the rental and as I said before, it's really really important that she gets her contract checked by someone in the know - and not just the agent that found her the place!  ;)

Thanks for all the advice, it has been really helpful.

I will be taking someone with me to look over the contract!

Regards,

Linda.