Buying a home and don't know how anything works

[scifisam]

What happens if you go away for a while? How are you supposed to know how much to top up? Can you top up online or do you have to schlep to a shop as I remember from previous places I've lived with these?

You go to a shop, but it'll just be a local corner shop, and you can top up in pretty large amounts if you want and do multiple top-ups on the same day. It's not really much of a hassle, but the charges are higher.

When I moved in here the electricity company changed my meter to a normal one in about a week. Might be a bit slower now, but it wasn't hard. Don't remember them doing a credit check or anything.

 

[Epona]

miss direct I think the gas & electric is pre-payment meter as I don’t know why it would be relevant to tell you otherwise such as just a device you plug in that measures what you use?

My house is on pre-payment meters which were described as ‘smart’ meters by the vendors -or at least one of them was. I think the days are gone of pre-payment automatically costing you more. I have had an email advising me I might not be on the tariff & to make contact.

Unfortunately prepayment meters still typically charge more per unit than billed tariffs.

It is typically people who cannot pass a credit check who get stuck with this method, and while it seems like it might be useful in terms of budgeting, the fact it actually costs more is a real hindrance to folks on low incomes or with poor credit ratings.

We got our leccy switched to a billed meter several years ago when we had good credit, but our gas is still on a card meter and we cannot get it switched because shit has happened in the intervening years and our credit rating is through the floor.

We are charged 50p if we run out of gas (which sometimes happens unexpectedly due to 37p a day standing charge, you can find you have no gas left) and have to use emergency credit when we can't get to the shops to top up. That isn't 50p spent on gas, that is 50p charged as a fee for going into arrears each and every time, there really should be legislation against that kind of usury.

miss direct - I would not let this put you off buying a place - just try to get it switched to a billed meter if you can, if not it is something that can easily be lived with if you are not on the breadline, so don't worry too much about it.

 

[Elpenor]

You don’t want to be on a prepayment meter full stop.

 

[Epona]

You don’t want to be on a prepayment meter full stop.

I wouldn't let it put me off buying a place though - either you can pass a credit check to get it switched to billed and that is really easy to do, or you can't pass a credit check and if you are moving somewhere with a billed meter they might come and switch it to a card/key prepayment meter - the method of billing and the options available are not tied to the house, it is tied to your own credit rating and the agreement/contract with the utilities provider, which is not an integral part of the property being purchased.

 

[Elpenor]

Yes, presumably miss direct can take the appropriate steps to improve credit rating if needed - electoral roll, taking out and paying off a credit card each month (use for one grocery shop / month etc)

 

[Epona]

Yes, presumably miss direct can take the appropriate steps to improve credit rating if needed - electoral roll, taking out and paying off a credit card each month (use for one grocery shop / month etc)

The thing is a lot of people with poor credit rating can buy a house (self employed with no regular payslips to prove income is the usual one here, or cash savings from a previous house sale but no steady income- you can potentially have a high income or a pool of cash but low credit rating) but the way utilites are billed is not necessarily a part of the house you buy - you can buy a house with a pre-payment meter and get it changed to billed or you can buy a house with a billed meter and they insist on coming round and switching it to prepayment (the meters belong to the utilities companies regardless of whether you are a tenant or owner occupier) - it isn't to do with the house and a house purchase should not be based on these things.

 

[cybershot]

Ask you Solictor to raise it as an enquiry as to clarify if the meters are prepay meters.

 

[moonsi til]

I really need to look into the meter! I’m still using the top up key & card from previous owner. I’m confused why they said it was a smart meter & the sticker next to it. Once I get account confirmed in my name I will look into it or I might drink gin for breakfast & call them tomorrow. My last call with them -SSE was one of the most infuriating conversations I have ever had.

 

[Riklet]

Ask you Solictor to raise it as an enquiry as to clarify if the meters are prepay meters.

Definitely. Although personally I'd bet money they're not. It sounds like a smart meter being plugged pointlessly. And a place that was owner occupied by a couple who have decided to sell seems super unlikely to have a pre-pay system. But you never know.

Better than moving in somewhere with no heating anyway!

 

[moonsi til]

Riklet my house was owner occupied & came with meters & they insisted it saved them money.

 

[sheothebudworths]

Smart meters are NOT the same as pre-payment/key meters (although they can be set to pre-payment).
I wouldn't assume that's what was meant though, if that wasn't explicitly stated - more likely it's JUST a smart meter!

Key meters were ALWAYS more expensive, disgracefully so - I think that was banned a few years ago, though (effectively, literally charging more to people who were already likely to be worse off) - but I very much doubt they're actually cheaper.

More likely that moonsi til 's vendors meant that - IF all else is equal (in terms of the rates you pay and standing charges etc) - you are just less likely to get the build up over the year that DD's can cause, where the energy companies like to randomly up your monthly DD after the winter for eg, despite the fact that the costs will even out over the summer months ('so you won't get into debt') which means they eventually end up holding on to a large wodge of your own money - them owing YOU instead of the other way around.

Tbf, it's obviously tricky to work out exactly how much energy you are likely to use over a whole year, in a new property - but that's easy enough to keep an eye on over the course of a year and with annual statements - especially if you DO have a smart meter that will be sending automated readings (but which is NOT a pre-payment meter ).

I have probably made that sound a million times more complicated now.

I would just assume it's a Smart meter and not worry about it.
They might set your rate according to the vendors usage (and this is all assuming you don't change your provider, too ) and that will probably be higher if they were a couple (double the baths for eg) but then you just keep an eye on your own actual usage, over time.

 

[sheothebudworths]

Riklet my house was owner occupied & came with meters & they insisted it saved them money.

This is getting very confusing - ALL properties come with meters!
It used to be that you'd either have a standard one or a key (pre-paid) meter.
Now there are 'smart' meters, which mostly just read your usage without anyone having to physically check them (either you or your provider).

Iirc, the first gen. smart meters wouldn't actually work like that if you switched providers (which might explain Thora 's problem) but the new ones should carry over even if you change.

I am still stubbornly refusing one, tbf - on the grounds that it puts people out of work - but in reality, no one comes to check my meter so I do it myself or they just endlessly (over) estimate it.

moonsi til - you need to check the rates you are paying with your current provider and then you can do a price comparison. But as I say, I suspect your vendors were more likely talking about not building up credit, rather than key meters (NOT smart meters!) actually being cheaper, iyswim!

 

[Riklet]

Riklet my house was owner occupied & came with meters & they insisted it saved them money.

Well theyre weirdos and are wrong. Probs very uncommon, maybe not if it's an old person or something but a youngish couple.... narrr.

Miss direct dont worry too much. Things will work out, and work themselves out!

 

[20Bees]

I really need to look into the meter! I’m still using the top up key & card from previous owner. I’m confused why they said it was a smart meter & the sticker next to it. Once I get account confirmed in my name I will look into it or I might drink gin for breakfast & call them tomorrow. My last call with them -SSE was one of the most infuriating conversations I have ever had.

Live chat might be an option on the app or website, if you’d rather type than talk? You also have the option to save the chat record so you can read back through it if you forget anything or want to remind yourself of something that was said.

 

[miss direct]

When I go for second viewing I will just look. No need to make it an official inquiry as anything involving solicitors seems to take ages.

 

[sheothebudworths]

No reason to raise it cos it's prob exactly what they said it was!

 

[Leafster]

When I go for second viewing I will just look. No need to make it an official inquiry as anything involving solicitors seems to take ages.

You've probably already thought of it but make a list of all the things you want to look at or double-check when you go. It's easy to forget something when you're actually there.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

When I go for second viewing I will just look. No need to make it an official inquiry as anything involving solicitors seems to take ages.

Do a check on all utilities, ie ask them where the electric and gas meters are, also if they have a water meter, if so where is it. And ask them where the water stop cock is.

My flat's in a small block of three and had a massive water tank on the roof, and when the ballcock failed and water started gushing down through the building, I knew there was a small stopcock/off tap in my bathroom, but it turned out the stopcock for our building was in the street outside.

You don't want to wait until there's a plumbing emergency to realise you don't know where the stopcock is.

 

[miss direct]

What's a stopcock?

 

[Puddy_Tat]

What's a stopcock?

main water tap for the property / building

there may be one big main water tank for the whole building, there may be separate tanks for each flat.

the kitchen cold tap will (almost always) be straight off the mains, but most cold taps, the cistern in the bog/s and the hot water supply will usually be fed off a cold water tank in the loft or somewhere.

the house i used to have, the stopcock for the house had been panelled over to make the front porch 'tidier' - fortunately i found this out when planning an optional plumbing job not in an emergency...

 

[danski]

main water tap for the property / building

there may be one big main water tank for the whole building, there may be separate tanks for each flat.

the kitchen cold tap will (almost always) be straight off the mains, but most cold taps, the cistern in the bog/s and the hot water supply will usually be fed off a cold water tank in the loft or somewhere.

the house i used to have, the stopcock for the house had been panelled over to make the front porch 'tidier' - fortunately i found this out when planning an optional plumbing job not in an emergency...

If it’s a combi or closed system boiler (type used with cylinder but with pressure vessels) there won’t be loft tanks.

 

[Leafster]

main water tap for the property / building

there may be one big main water tank for the whole building, there may be separate tanks for each flat.

the kitchen cold tap will (almost always) be straight off the mains, but most cold taps, the cistern in the bog/s and the hot water supply will usually be fed off a cold water tank in the loft or somewhere.

the house i used to have, the stopcock for the house had been panelled over to make the front porch 'tidier' - fortunately i found this out when planning an optional plumbing job not in an emergency...

The stopcock for my current place was in the bathroom when I moved in. The trouble was they had fitted a new bath and toilet around it so to turn it off you had to lay face down on the floor with your head on one side of the loo and, without being able to see, stretch your arm around the other side and fumble in the small gap between the loo and bath for the tap before you could turn it off.

It's now in the kitchen under the sink and easy to get at.

 

[Riklet]

Seriously you need to go for a second viewing sooon however busy your life is.

It's important cos there might be things to point out or to negotiate. Or just to have clearer in your mind.

 

[20Bees]

The stopcock for my house is behind (removable) skirting board in the kitchen. Easy, you’d think. But the water main comes up the road to serve just my house and my neighbour. The MAIN main stopcock is buried in the grass verge 1/4 mile away, on the other side of the road. At some point it crosses the road to our side but when the old Water Board was privatised, records weren’t transferred for this level of pipe work.

My neighbour has a sound understanding of our plumbing and its idiosyncrasies. Sadly the current water supply company prefer to follow their own instincts, and thus fail to locate the pipe, rather than be told by the customer where they should be looking. Last time they had to find the stopcock on the grass verge, some years ago, they helpfully put a blob of blue paint on the grass “for next time”...

You really do need to know where to locate the stopcock and how to turn it off. It’s a good idea to turn it fully on and fully off every six months at least, so it doesn’t get stuck through lack of movement. I was told this long ago and do it regularly. I was never advised to do the same with all the taps and gate valves on the pipes in the airing cupboard, and was too daft to think about it, so they are all immovably stuck and any plumbing work means draining all the tanks.

 

[miss direct]

Seriously you need to go for a second viewing sooon however busy your life is.

It's important cos there might be things to point out or to negotiate. Or just to have clearer in your mind.

You're right. Im away at the start of next week and then have a job interview, followed by a demo lesson on Thursday. But I will talk to the estate agent and see how flexible they are. I assumed weekends wouldn't be possible but perhaps I'm wrong.

 

[20Bees]

Perhaps if the sellers are still in the flat you can do your second viewing with them there, the estate agents won’t need to accompany you unless it’s locked up and they have to open it for you.

 

[spitfire]

The stopcock for my house is behind (removable) skirting board in the kitchen. Easy, you’d think. But the water main comes up the road to serve just my house and my neighbour. The MAIN main stopcock is buried in the grass verge 1/4 mile away, on the other side of the road. At some point it crosses the road to our side but when the old Water Board was privatised, records weren’t transferred for this level of pipe work.

My neighbour has a sound understanding of our plumbing and its idiosyncrasies. Sadly the current water supply company prefer to follow their own instincts, and thus fail to locate the pipe, rather than be told by the customer where they should be looking. Last time they had to find the stopcock on the grass verge, some years ago, they helpfully put a blob of blue paint on the grass “for next time”...

You really do need to know where to locate the stopcock and how to turn it off. It’s a good idea to turn it fully on and fully off every six months at least, so it doesn’t get stuck through lack of movement. I was told this long ago and do it regularly. I was never advised to do the same with all the taps and gate valves on the pipes in the airing cupboard, and was too daft to think about it, so they are all immovably stuck and any plumbing work means draining all the tanks.

The stopcock in our ground floor/basement flat also provides water to the 2 flats upstairs so may be worth checking that while you're at it. Probably fairly rare but people do strange things when adapting old buildings to flats.

 

[Hellsbells]

You're right. Im away at the start of next week and then have a job interview, followed by a demo lesson on Thursday. But I will talk to the estate agent and see how flexible they are. I assumed weekends wouldn't be possible but perhaps I'm wrong.

All viewings I've ever done have been evenings or Saturdays

 

[miss direct]

I'm hoping to get a vague idea of when this might be finished next week. Searches have been requested, and solicitor said once they were in, the council would tell them approximately how long the local search will take (apparently that's the one that takes the longest.)

Solicitor kept mentioning four weeks but estate agent said a few days, so I'm imaging two weeks as a happy medium. Assuming there are no issues there (I really can't see what there would be..), may be looking at exchange by end of May, early June?

 

[miss direct]

When I do my second viewing, can I
Take photos
Take a measuring tape
Flush the toilet
Turn the shower on to see how long it takes to heat up and what the pressure is like
Close the curtains and see how much light they let in
Open and close doors to check them

I suppose it depends on who is there while I do the viewing. If I bring a friend perhaps I can get her to distract whoever it is so I can do those things.