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Communal heating charges

Published: 11/06/2015

Tenants in some Council properties are set to receive a refund for their heating payments. Across Flintshire, there are nine communal heating schemes, where tenants benefit from a Council-run commercial contract rate, which is negotiated 12 months in advance. The Council initially pays for the fuel, and then collects it from tenants in addition to their weekly rent, with the aim of breaking even at the end of every financial year. Heating charges for fuel consumption are based on the previous year’s usage. In the last financial year, with energy prices being lower than anticipated, there has been an over recovery of heating costs in some areas. In Bolingbroke and Richard Heights in Flint, each tenant on the communal heating scheme will receive a refund of £55.97. For this financial year (2015/16), the Council has been able to buy gas at a reduced price to last year. At a meeting of the Cabinet on Tuesday 16 June, Members will be asked to approve a decrease in the weekly heating charges. They will also be asked to approve refunds being given either as a rent credit, if the tenant is in rent arrears, or as a cheque refund if the rent account is up to date. Councillor Helen Brown, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “I am extremely pleased that we are able to offer some of our tenants a refund on their energy bills, and that across all nine communal heating schemes we are able to offer a reduction in our heating charges for this financial year. The fuel charges were already good value, and these new charges mean that some of our tenants will be paying as little as £6.12 a week to heat their homes.”