AVERAGE COST OF BILLS IN A SHARED FLAT

General rules in amigoflats

Bills paid by tenants

Tenants

The responsible consumption of all basic utilities falls on the flatmates. The basic utilities in a flat are: Water, Electricity, Gas and Internet

Two options

All bills included

In this system, the landlord has included the cost of all utility bills in the room rental price. In order to ensure a responsible consumption by all tenants, the owner pays the first 10€ per tenant per month of each monthly utility bill

Example taken from a flat with 5 tenants: 10€ x 5 tenants = 50€/month. This means that the landlord pays the first 50€ in each utility per month. That´s 50€ in electricity, 50€ in water, 50€ in gas and 50€ in internet. If you spend more than this on any of the utilities, then the excess is split between all the tenants in the flat. If the bills are bimonthly (one bill that arrives every two months), then the landlord will put the double, in this instance, 100€

Bills NOT Included

This is amigoflats favourite method as it is the fairest and most transparent. The tenant pays 35€/month for utility bills (water, electricity, gas and internet):

If the tenants' consumption of bills is less than 35€/month: The landlord will return any excess money at the end of the semester

If the tenants' consumption of bills is more than 35€/month: The tenant will pay the excess owed at the end of the semester

Examples

Real information for bills over 10 months

All bills included

10€ x 4 tenants = the landlord pays the first 40€ of each utility bill

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Bills NOT included

Tenant pays +35€ per month to cover cost of utility bills

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Bills paid by landlords

The Landlord

The landlord already has the utilities contracted for the flat in their name. This saves you the time, effort and money of having to set up your own supplies and contracts. The landlord will also periodically inform their tenants of their usage and expenditure so that they can view and control your consumption

The following bills are ALWAYS paid by the landlord:

Community building bills

Bills for the maintenance, lighting and cleaning of communal areas as well as building administration costs (which are included in the bill of monthly neighbour community costs)

Taxes

IBI 'El Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles'(a Spanish property tax). This is a tax that is charged to all properties and is controlled by local governments. The average cost of this tax per year in Spain is 700€ per year

Home insurance

Home insurance that covers all constructive and structural elements of the property

Home repairs

All necessary repairs to basic installations in the flat (repairs to the electric system, tubes and pipes, blinds etc) as well as repairs due to general wear and tear of electrical appliances (for example: fridge, oven, boiler etc) and furnitures (beds, study desks etc) will be paid by the landlord, so long as there has been no foul play or lack of care taken by the tenant