Utility bills in a rented flat: how they are calculated and divided

The easiest way to look at utility charges is in two groups. The first is what you pay by meter: electricity, natural gas and mains water each have their own meter, and the bill follows what you used. In this group, using less shows up directly on the statement, which is exactly why it is worth making sure the meter is working.

The second group is the charges that have nothing to do with consumption. Refuse collection is usually calculated by the number of people living in the flat, while the shared services in a block — cleaning the stairwell, the lift, the upkeep of the courtyard — are normally charged by floor area and collected through the building management or the residents’ association. These arrive whether you are living in the flat or away for a month.

The distinction matters in practice, because the two groups are negotiated differently. Metered services almost always fall to the tenant, since the tenant is the one consuming them. Standing charges attached to the property itself more often stay with the landlord. In reality each agreement settles this for itself, which is why it needs to be pinned down in writing rather than by word of mouth.

It is the most ambiguous phrase in any advert. Some landlords use it to mean that only the electricity and the water are on your account; others fold the building-management fee, the refuse charge, the internet and the winter heating into it as well. Both have written the truth as they see it, because the phrase is not a standard — it is only a habit.

So open the phrase up on the very first call. "What do you include in the utilities?" is an entirely reasonable question and a normal landlord answers it in a minute. Then take the answer service by service: electricity, gas, water, refuse, building management, internet, heating. Seven names, seven answers, and the subject is closed.

The split you agree should go into the contract service by service. A single sentence saying "utilities are the tenant’s responsibility" turns into an unexpected bill in winter, particularly in buildings without central heating, where the heating lands on the electricity account and the winter statement looks nothing like the summer one.

Reading a meter looks simple, but there are a few catches. On most meters the last digit or digits are a different colour — usually in a red frame — and they are the decimal part. Only the whole number is submitted. Most electricity meters are digital now and cycle through several figures on the display; if the tariff is split into time zones, there is a separate figure for each zone.

There are several ways to submit a reading: through the supplier’s mobile app or online account, at payment terminals and in payment apps, or through the building management. Some modern meters transmit the reading themselves, in which case nothing is asked of you at all. Ask the landlord which arrangement applies here — it differs from flat to flat.

A good habit: photograph all three meters on the same day each month. It takes a minute, and if a dispute arises you have a year of history in your hand. Keep the photographs in their own album on your phone, and post them in the shared chat with the landlord as you go.

Common practice in Uzbekistan is that the tenant pays for what the tenant consumes: electricity, gas, water and refuse. Charges that belong to the property and arrive regardless of who lives there — the building-management or residents’ association fee, contributions to a major-repairs fund and the like — more often stay with the landlord. But this is custom rather than law: the parties can agree otherwise, and that is entirely normal.

The internet stands apart. In some flats the cable is already in and the contract is in the landlord’s name, in which case the tenant usually reimburses the monthly charge. In others the tenant brings in a provider of their own. The second case may involve installation work, so get the landlord’s permission in advance.

Heating is a conversation of its own. In buildings on central heating the charge is usually calculated on a different basis and may not sit inside what the advert calls "utilities" at all. In flats with a gas boiler the heating lands on the gas bill; in flats with electric heaters it lands entirely on the electricity bill, and you notice it in winter. That is why asking about last winter’s bills is one of the most useful questions at a viewing.

This is the commonest unpleasant surprise: you move in, the first bill arrives, and the figure has nothing to do with what you used, because it carries a debt left by the previous tenant. Formally the debt attaches to the account, which is to say to the flat, and who ran it up is of no interest to the supplier.

To avoid it, do two things before you move in. First, ask the landlord to show you the most recent receipts for each service, or the account balance in the app: a clear account is visible on the screen. Second, on the day you take the keys, write down all three meter readings, photograph them, and attach them to the contract or at the very least confirm them in writing with the landlord.

One short sentence in the contract helps too: that any utility debt accrued up to the date of signature remains the landlord’s. That sentence settles the question of who owes what in a moment.

Closing the utilities when you leave is in your own interest, because an unpaid debt is usually taken out of the deposit. On the last day, write down and photograph all three meter readings again, pay the final bills and keep the receipts. Send the landlord a copy as well.

Go through those readings together when you hand the flat back, and write them into the receipt: these figures on this date, nothing owed. Any bill that arrives after that is not yours, and you hold the document that proves it.

The absence of tariffs in this article is deliberate: they change, and the right place to get a current figure is the supplier’s own source. The divisions and procedures described here are common practice, and they are not a substitute for legal advice.