Thanks both. Moving from here is not an option as I havepets which the landlords are fine about, my rent is cheap due to a few maintenance issues such as no carpet and the poor cosmetic appearance of the the flat, and I am in central London. By the oil filled heaters, do you mean like economy 7/ storage heaters? They were the only thing I could think of.

Hope someone can help me with this, the situation is a bit unusual I think as I have not found anything else similar on the forums. I live in rented accomodation, a basement flat and the landlords (a couple) live upstairs in the main house. I have a standard assured shorthold tenancy agreement. While my flat is self contained in a physical sense (ie, my own entrance etc and I do not share anything other than the garden with upstairs, and then we have seperate entrances to the garden) the utilities are all on one bill for the whole house, including my flat. When I first moved in (over a year ago) it was agreed that they would look into splitting the supply for the electric, but until then we would simply split the bills- water (set rate) and electric, three ways, between the three of us that live in the building. Not sure that it's relevant, but upstairs have gas aswell as the electric, but I don't. Anyway, shortly after I moved in, the landlords got quotes to split the electric into two seperate billable supplies, don't ask me the ins and out of it all but it came to about £15,000! They could not afford to do this, which I understand, and we agreed to continue to pay the electric on an even three way split. (The bills are in the landlords name, I get a copy for my records and then pay my third to them.) The first couple of bills (quarterly) all were fine, a little more expensive than I have been used to when alone (£150 each of us, then £170 each for the two quarterly bills that covered the warmer months) but ok. Now, there is no central heating in the property, as the gas boiler having never worked in about ten years apparently, and they say that they have always gotten on fine in the winter with a gas fire and a couple of little heaters. They agreed that by the winter, they would install some kind of heating for my flat, as there was no form of heating in there at all when I moved in. Sure enough, come winter, they got two floor- affixed electric radiators that plug into the wall, and sorted me out for warmth for the winter. Then came our bill for the quarter over xmas... £900 for the quarter!! So £300 each on our even split. At first none of us could believe it, even though the bills are based on meter readings, we disputed it and the electric people came out to check it, and it indeed appeared to be correct. It would seem that the two electric heaters in my part of the property were the cause of this, as nothing else had changed in either my or their parts of the building other than the heaters. None of us were happy with this, but we did indeed all pay our parts. I cannot afford to maintain bills of that kind throughout the winter, and they both say that their part (£600 for the two of them) was way higher than they have ever paid either, implying that my use of the radiators has pushed the usage up in their part too. Now while we agreed that the agreement stood, and that they cannot ask me to pay more of that bill even though they felt I caused the price hike, I was indeed pretty narked paying just my third, as I did not have a choice of what heating went into my flat and don't see why I should have to choose to either be cold due to their provision or to have bills that I can't pay. We are now in a situation where none of us are prepared to go through that again this winter, I cannot afford to do it and also as I say, don't feel that I should have to when I don't get any say in the lack of central heating or what method is used to heat my part. It has gotten to the silly point where they are saying 'well, you use more as you're at home in the day, and we only have a heater on for three hours a day' -Yes, at the time I was working from home, but for the vast majority of the time only had the heaters on the very lowest levels anyway, which is the same as what I would have done had I been out all day anyway- And I don't feel that it is unreasonable for me to be in my property that I pay for when I want to be and expect to be able to keep it at an ambient temperature when I am! While I am saying 'yes but I don't have a tv or any multimedia except from my computer, whereas you have three tv's and watch tv in seperate rooms each night, plus you have two fish tanks with heaters, filters etc, loads of games systems, music, security cameras and monitors etc...' Of course, the simple fact is, that we will never know for certain how much electric each of us uses, hence why splitting it in the first place was a good idea until the quote came in. Also I understand that the landlord is legally obliged to provide me with some maner of adequately heating my flat, but there is no proviso stipulated on that about it being at a realistic cost, so I feel that my hands are tied a little... It seems that as far as landlord/ tenant law says, they could provide me some kind of heater that required me to feed it diamonds, and though it would be economically unfeasible for me to do so, they have fulfilled their part of the law by giving me something and it's my problem if I can't afford to run it! So basically, with this long and winding post, I am hoping for any help really- From suggestions as to what could be installed for me to adequately heat the flat and won't bankrupt us, (I mean, I have looked into getting a freestanding gas bottle run upright gas fire, but working out the cost of the bottles would seem to have me paying out the same as I was with the electric...) To where I stand on my entitlement (if any) to be able to say 'no, if I choose to be in my house 24/7 thats my business and I should be able to heat it for a reasonable and managable cost' or to insist that they install central heating, or what? We are all meeting up in a couple of days to discuss what we are going to do about it for this coming winter, while we still have plenty of time to work something out, but I don't really have any ideas, and am not sure that they do either... I can feel that it might just turn into a mutual moan as mentioned above, along the lines of 'well you're in more' and 'well its not my fault i've got electric heating' and just end up as a row. So I am keen to have some suggestions of ways to go forward, or failing that, really just some info on where I stand in terms of having heat without extortionate bills etc? Just to explain in case anyone asks the obvious question of 'what did the prior tenant do for heat before you moved in?' There was no prior tenant, the flat that I live in was never rented out before, the landlords had it full of their junk for years. Any help apreciated. Many thanks.

Thanks a lot. x

Digging up an old thread here I know, but I see mentioned what the max budgeting loan amount for a single person was in April 2009- Does anyone know what it is now, or where I can find out? I have been googling all day to no avail! thanks.

Thanks very much for that, it's so much more straightforwards when you know how it goes!

Ok, I am 95% convinced that bankruptcy is the best solution for me, having looked into many options etc. on line. The whole thing makes me quite queasy (not so much the 'being a bankrupt' thing but the worry leading up to it) and I have a few questions if anyone can help. My basic situation is I am 32, single and living in rented accomodation. I have been claiming JSA and housing benefit for six months now since my redundancy (with no pay off) and do not have a hope of getting a job soon. 1. I understand I can get the £150 court fee waived due to being on benefits, but on the form online about it you have to put the case number and things on it, so in what order do I do things? Do I submit the bankruptcy forms first and then take the EX- thingy form when I go to court? 2. I understand there are trusts etc. for helping people with the cost of bankruptcy but they all appear to be different power/ water companies who will only help you if you are a client of theirs- I am not a current client of any of them as where I live now, the bills are in my landlord's name (the power and utilities are on one unit for the whole house, I rent the basement and when the bills come I just get given a copy and told my share to pay) is there anywhere else I can apply to? Also at what stage of the proceedings does this fee have to be paid, at court/ after/ basically can I get the ball rolling now and then finish up when I have the money for the payment? 3. It says on the forms that they may advise my landlord, do they usually do this as my landlord is not that understanding (he told me I had to leave when he found out I'd lost my job and was on benefits, since retracted, but if he finds out about the bankruptcy I can see another scene and me possibly having to find a new place... I know I will appear in the papers but I think it unlikely he will see that) 4. This may sound ridiculous but I am not totally sure of what I owe, or to whom- I moved house last year and still owe some debts at my old house but have not told them I moved as I left in a panic when I lost my job and had to get somewhere cheaper and had no way of paying them... Should I just list the debts that I know I owe, and what happens if after the bankruptcy is done, some other prior debt pops up? 5. Is it mandatory to have to show evidence of seeking independent advice before filing, or is my own research online enough? If not, does the CAB count as advising? 6. For what reasons could it be denyed? 7. I understand that my bank account will be frozen- I have no debt to that bank it's just a cash card account, but I need access to it as my JSA and housing benefit gets paid into it, should I just open one of the new accounts for bankrupts and change the details, or is there a way to get the bank not to freeze it? 8. The form asked for details of my previous employer, will they contact them? I am trying to keep this from them too. I'm sure I will think of more questions, but any advice is appreciated.

Thanks a lot for replying. I did tell him when I moved out (returned the keys etc.) but only the day before. Ah well not the news I was hoping for but thanks a lot!

Wonder if someone can help me here, this is quite long so bear with me! I moved into a property in August 2007 on a one year assured shorthold tenancy. My deposit was placed in the tenancy deposit scheme as normal. After the year was up in August 2008 and my tenancy expired, I continued to live in the property (with landlord agreement) but he did not issue me with a new tenancy agreement. At one point I became behind with my rent and we both agreed to apply to the tenancy deposit people to have my bond released to him to cover this, which was done. (This is only relevant in as much as that there was no bond left with him when I moved to cover any of the issues below.) Nine or so months after I had been living there without a current tenancy agreement, I moved into a new, smaller property as I could no longer afford it that apartment I did not give notice, which I agree would have been polite and I was wrong and so on, but I was in a catch 22 of not being able to afford to pay the rent nor fund moving to somewhere cheaper for several months, and when I finally did find somewhere and could afford to move, I moved. Now the landlord is writing to me and threatening legal action for both a month's rent (over £1000) in lieu of notice, plus several hundreds of pounds for assorted and spurious things including replacing a light (that was broken when I moved in) cleaning the property (which I left clean) and a week's rent that I owed him. Altogether added up making almost £2,000! So basically my question is, with the tenancy agreement we had having been expired by almost a year by the time I moved out, ie, no valid agreement existed for the time I moved out to cover things like giving notice etc, am I still legally liable? Does the expired shorthold tenancy hold good even after the dates on it have passed, or does he not have a legal position to come after me for the fees mentioned above? Many thanks.