I am moving to a new house(S12 area) which includes 3 bedrooms and a garden. But there is no meter reading, the annual fee is around 360 pounds.
So, what kind of payment is cheaper? Pay monthly or annual?

get a water meter!!! i did and im saving over 50% on my monthly bill!

Have To Agree With Redhotjo.

I Had A Water Meter Installed A Few Years Back,Against My Parents Advice.
My Normal Yearly Bill Was About 240 Quid At The Time.Got My Lastest Budget Plan This Morning.I'm Only Paying 9 Quid A Month!:thumbsup:

We have a water meter, also we are a family of four, and our bills are around £240/50 a year

If there is no meter reading, how does the water company know how much I should pay each month? estimate?
And why the annual water bill of my property is more expensive than others, coz there is a garden?
thanks

If there is no meter to read your property is still assessed using the old system based on the propertys rateable value and is a fixed charge regardless of how much is used. Is your place detatched, bigger than the others in the area, a new house surrounded by predominantly older ones, have you ensuite bathrooms, extra toilets all these things make a difference.

You can apply to have a meter put in it shouldn't cost you anything and when we did it a couple of years ago it was painless and saved us loads. Ring up Yorkshire Water persevere when you first start trying to get through.

Interestingly we have had a reduction in our water bills since we had a dishwasher, we thought it would have gone up but it didn't. Well I thought it was quite interesting.

Just moved from an older house with no meter, paying nearly £500 per year (£40 pr month).

New house much bigger, water meter installed, now paying £18 per month

When you ask to have a meter fitted, you can watch how your bills change and still have the option to go back to fixed charge within the first 12 months.

The meter will remain in place however and the new occupiers after you will have no option. (meter readings only).

Originally posted by cgksheff
When you ask to have a meter fitted, you can watch how your bills change and still have the option to go back to fixed charge within the first 12 months.

The meter will remain in place however and the new occupiers after you will have no option. (meter readings only).

That's what's putting me off having a water meter fitted at the moment. I probably pay over the odds at the moment, but then I'm concerned that when I decide to sell, I could have a bit more trouble selling if there's a water meter fitted. For example, if a family of 4/5 were interested in buying my house and it came down to a choice between a house with a water meter and one without, I'd assume that the preference would be for a house without a meter?

in most cases if u check a families requirements the web sites always advise for a meter.i could have saved nearly 50% on my domestic usage, however i have to provide 240gallons every 2 weeks for my daughters horses so i stayed with the bill just in case.

ive got a family and its still far cheaper than rateable water rates. I suggest that you keep evidence of the reduced rate to show them as presumably it will be at a viewing that they are informed?

I live in a 4 bed terrace in Sharrow Vale/Hunters Bar area.

Pay £20 a month for 10 months of the year (£200) between 4 of us and can use as much water as we like.

Is that unusual??

just moved house, water bill gone through the roof :mad: has anyone changed to a meter system? is it cheaper? are there any benifits apart from the cost.i used very little water in the past now i am paying this much i may as well leave the tap on all night.:confused:

Had a meter fitted 10 years ago. If you haven't any kids and there are just one or two adults, then you'll save money by metering. The two of us also use a garden hose in the summer and it's still cheaper than fixed rates. Hope this helps.

I agree, if you don't use much water then you are generally better off on a meter. Of course you can use all the usual water saving techniques (brick in the cistern, making sure you only run full loads of the washing machine etc) to make sure you aren't paying loads on your meter.

However, if there are several of you living there and you all like baths, long showers/power showers, do alot of washing and have a dishwasher then you may not notice much of a difference!

Have you moved from a meter? or have you stayed with rates but moved to a bigger house/more people (I think thats generally how the calculation of rates works)

You can also connect your hose up to a neighbours tap when watering your garden,that is, if they do not have a meter.I'm sure the water companies don't mind

hiya
well i use a dishwasher, have a bath or long shower every day as does my daughter, use a washing machine frequently!! My bill has gone down significantly!!!! I wouldnt go back to rateable water bills!

At the moment, if you want to have a meter fitted, you can choose to go back to fixed billing anytime within the first 12 months.
So you can see if is cheaper or not.

The meter, however, will stay there and the people to whom you sell your house at a later date will have no choice. They will be meter charged.

You can also connect your hose up to a neighbours tap when watering your garden,that is, if they do not have a meter.I'm sure the water companies don't mind

And the neighbours seem quite OK as we do their watering (with their water) afterwards.

what is a average monthly charge?

We are a young family of four who use a dishwasher nearly every day, a shower and a bath every day.

We switched to a meter a while ago and are currently paying £27 per month which is a whole lot cheaper than the bills we were getting.

Having said that, let's wait and see what the reconciliation statement says at the anniversary date.

Mod: Threads merged

I was paying £46.00 a month for rated water. I am now on meter and pay £18.00 per month. Also the dishwasher saves loads as we only use it once each day for all the pots and it uses 7 litres as opposed to constantly washing & rinsing throughout the day. Two adults each bath every day and 1adult showers everyday (sometimes twice). Also as we're away quite a lot we don't pay for what we don't use. We don't use a hosepipe as we have butts for the garden, much better for the plants.