Insane student HMO heating costs?

My student tenants pay me the rent and use a company called Split my Bills for the utilities. This works really well and they know they are getting the best deal and will be switched if a better deal appears. It’s a fair system and with no disputes between tenants not paying their way. This seems to be their main concern. They are also accountable and have to learn if they use too much their bills will rise. This way I don’t worry about their usage and they learn to be responsible.

Reply to the comment left by Jo Westlake at 13/10/2026 – 10:21
The first thing that I have done is to look into a way of controlling the heating remotely, but this is not permitted under the HMO license conditions. Legally, each tenant must have the ability to control the temperature in their own room and in the common areas. So the council will not allow me to install any of these systems.

Reply to the comment left by Markella Mikkelsen at 13/10/2026 – 12:23
There is of course a fair usage policy in the tenancy agreement. They are all within the limits, it’s just that heating costs have gone up so much that these reasonable limits are now extortionate.
The first thing that I have done is to look into a way of controlling the heating remotely, but this is not permitted under the HMO license conditions. Legally, each tenant must have the ability to control the temperature in their own room and in the common areas. So the council will not allow me to install any of these systems.

Reply to the comment left by Markella Mikkelsen at 13/10/2026 – 12:23
controlling the heating remotely is not permitted under the HMO license conditions. Legally, each tenant must have the ability to control the temperature in their own room and in the common areas. So the council will not allow me to install any of these systems.

Reply to the comment left by student landlord at 08:31
You write that [controlling the heating remotely] “is not permitted under the HMO license conditions.” Is there a specific clause about this in your licence?
We do not have this in our licences and the HMO officers have said that remote control by us is OK so long as the tenants can boost the heating. OWL allows them to boost for an hour and then another if they need to. What they cannot do is turn the heating up to maximum and leave it on all night or when they go on holiday. TRVs in rooms allow control of temperature. Most of our houses are under 20 years old and individual bedrooms are usually warner than common areas so this is not an issue for us.
If you do have such a condition, I suggest you challenge it. You may have to wait for renewal of the licence but i think it is an unreasonable condition to impose where the landlord pays the heating bills.

Reply to the comment left by Ian Narbeth at 14/10/2026 – 11:38
Hi yes, there is a specific condition in HMO licenses issued by York council. If any York license holders read this it would be interesting if they have challenged it.

Reply to the comment left by student landlord at 14/10/2026 – 08:33
You can still have a remote monitoring system which will provide you with useful evidence in case you need to charge them under the fair usage policy.

As I said, there is no magic bullet and in my experience if you control the heating and keep it to say 20 degrees, tenants just get electric heaters for their rooms, which costs you more. Some landlords go to the expense of installing individual electric pre-payment meters in each bedroom, but even this isn’t foolproof. Ive seen tenants running heaters in their bedroom on long extension cables from the communal areas.

The bills sharing app mentioned earlier may be the best solution.

Reply to the comment left by student landlord at 14/10/2026 – 11:51
This is not legal advice but I note that York’s guidance says:
“Heating
A range of questions about the type of heating provided. It should be noted that heating may be centrally controlled but such systems should be operated to ensure that tenants are not exposed to cold indoor temperatures and should be provided with controls to allow tenants to regulate the temperature within their unit.”

The boost function, in my view, ensures they are not exposed to cold indoor temperatures. (That’s a somewhat vague requirement. What is cold for one person may be fine for another and most people want rooms colder at night when they want to sleep,)
As to the second part, the boost function coupled with thermostatic radiator valves allow tenants to regulate the temperature.

Reply to the comment left by Ian Narbeth at 14/10/2026 – 13:46
Thanks for your input Ian – that’s really helpful. I agree it’s a rather vague condition. From most people’s replies, it seems that fitting this type of system is the only solution in 6 bed student HMO’s. Or of course trying to get tenants to sign up with a bills exclusive rent, but that’s increasingly unlikely.

Reply to the comment left by student landlord at 14/10/2026 – 08:31
But they can control the temperature in their room. The radiator will have a standard TRV. They can wander downstairs to the programmer and boost it if the base setting isn’t warm enough. The programmer works in the same way as any other programmer in terms of making the boiler run or not. When the temperature drops below whatever temperature is set the boiler fires up. When it’s up to temperature the boiler stops. If the occupant wants a bit more heat they are perfectly at liberty to get up and hit the boost button. You’re not doing anything to prevent them from being comfortable. What you are preventing is excessive waste. How many tenants forget to drop the temperature when they go out? How many will open a window instead of lowering the TRV setting? These programmers are designed to prevent waste, not freeze your tenant. If you set the base programme too low they will be constantly boosting it and be miserable. The key is to set a temperature that they find comfortable and probably only hit the boost button 2 or 3 times a month.