Understanding your service charges Heating service charges

What are heat service charges? 

If your home’s heated by a communal boiler, your heating costs are worked out slightly differently. A communal boiler is a single heating system that provides heat to more than one home. 

We estimate your weekly charge using: 

• How much heating your home used in the previous year 
• How much heat was recorded for your home 
• Any expected increases in heating costs 

How the charge works during the year 

You pay a weekly charge throughout the year, based on the estimate we’ve explained above.  

When we receive the final gas and heat meter readings for your home, we check how much energy was actually used. 

If you’ve paid too much, we’ll refund the difference.

If the actual costs were higher than what you’ve paid, we’ll add the difference to your rent account. 

Your gas sub-account is part of your rent account and you can pay it in the same way you pay your rent. 

What’s included in the charge? 

We carefully choose heating providers that offer the best value for our customers.

Your service charge may include: 

• A standing charge, which is a fixed cost for having access to the heating supply 
• A 10% administration charge, which is added to all service charges 

Southway does not make a profit from service charges and, by law, can only charge you for costs that are reasonable. 

How do we calculate how much heat you’ve used? 

We use two meter readings to calculate heating use: 

• A gas meter shows how much gas has been used by the communal boiler 
• A heat meter shows how much heat has been used by your home specifically 

What to do if you don’t think your heating charge is correct 

If you don’t think your heating charge is correct, please contact us.

We can send you information about your heat meter readings, how your charge was calculated, and anything else you need to understand the charge. 

We can also check whether your heat meter is working properly. This helps us rule out whether there may be a fault with how your share of the heating costs has been measured. 

Why are my heating charges higher than I expected? 

Heating costs can go up or down depending on energy prices and the amount of heating used. 

We do our best to keep costs as low as possible and work with our suppliers to get good value for residents. However, if energy prices increase or the heating system costs more to run, this may affect your heating charges.