Tenants left with "unfair" heating bills of up to £400 per month

People on the Fitzwilliam Patios estate in Swinton are being asked to pay at least twice as much for their heating as most UK homes after new “smart meters” were installed.

All 238 properties are linked up to a direct heating system in which two gas-fed boilers heat between 14 and 20 homes.

Miss Natasha Howe (23), of Beecham Court, said she had been spending £150 every four weeks on heating since the meters were fitted in September.

She said: “There are people spending £300 to £400 a month. Most people on this estate are on benefits and people here are in fuel poverty.

“I know a lady who could not put her heating on ’til four o’clock because she could not afford to put the heating on.

“We want the price dropping to the market price. What we would prefer is to have individual boilers.”

Miss Howe said she moved to the property last year from one which cost her less than half what she was being charged now.

Swinton borough councillor Ken Wyatt said he was pleading with Rotherham Borough Council’s housing department to find a solution.

He said residents paid not for the gas used by the boilers but the heat produced, as recorded by the new meters. 

“We are really concerned about fuel poverty,” he said.

Cllr Wyatt said that the average home would use about four kW of gas per hour but the Fitzwilliam Patios properties were paying for 8.75 kW per hour and were unable to change supplier.

He added that the old meters had been replaced as they were inaccurate and susceptible to tampering.

Possible solutions could be linking all properties up to the gas supply individually but any alternative would be expensive, he said.

“The system works,” he added. “The issue is the cost, which needs to be critically assessed.”

Ward colleague Cllr Victoria Cusworth told Wednesday’s council meeting: “I’ve seen annual heating costs of over £1,200 and parents sending kids to their grandparents so they can turn it off for a while.

“Residents have been advised by council officers to pay money in weekly throughout the year. They would have to pay £15 to £30 a week, well above the norm and what people are paying on the open market.”

Cllr Dominic Beck, the council’s Cabinet member for housing, said the council would “work strenuously” to put a proper charging scheme in place.

Tom Bell, assistant director of housing and neighbourhoods, said: “We are aware of the concerns and appreciate that some bills appear to be unusually high. 

“We are therefore exploring possible reasons for this with tenants and have been in contact with  anyone who has raised issues.

“We are investigating the thermal comfort of homes on the estate and will endeavour to resolve any problems we identify as a  result of this work. 

“We have previously informed residents that when we can assess a full year of costs using all of the new heat metres that have been installed we will provide a pro-rata refund for any surplus generated and adjust the unit charge accordingly.

“We are also now looking at how we can speed up this evaluation.”