Edinburgh flat block residents 'extremely anxious' after heating bills tripled in a year

Tenants and home-owners in Gorgie’s Westfield Court saw their estimated communal heating charges spiral by almost 350 per cent when their bills arrived for this financial year.

They had already been hit with an eye-watering bill to ‘balance off common charges’ in November last year. And after the latest bill in April accounted for the lifting of a cap on heat network gas and electricity, many are now said to be wondering how they will pay the sum.

The historic tower block hosts 92 flats, with the city council serving as property factor for the entire block despite being a minority owner. Residents have already complained about frequent loss of their heating and hot water during the winter months.

Residents of Westfield Courts have had communal heating charges hiked | Google

Diane Baxter, who is retired and receives pension credit, has lived in a studio apartment within the complex for eight years. She was shocked to see her bills spike so suddenly.

She told the Evening News: “At first I thought it was fine. We got a bill last April and it told you it was an estimated bill - pay £75 a month for the year. The bill was around £600 and I got £170 back and I thought ‘that’s good’ until last year.

“Last year, we got our normal bill and then a few months after we got another bill for £1,109. They said that there had been an underestimation in the billing system and that we had this to pay.

“I told them I was on pension credit and didn’t have £1,000 to pay it. They said I could pay it off and that it was a one-off, so I paid it £100 a month.

“That hasn’t been a problem until this April when I got the bill in and it was £2,009. I didn’t even pay that when I lived in a three-bedroom house.”

She added: “I just feel that as owners, we’re getting charged far too much for what we’ve got.”

Gorgie councillor Ross McKenzie put forward a motion calling for a review of the charges. He also demanded details on which energy supplier was being used to heat the block and action to stop the loss of heating.

Speaking at yesterday’s full council meeting, Cllr McKenzie reminded the chamber that Westfield Court was the city’s ‘original Banana Flats’ and said the issue spoke to ‘broader issues’ around maintenance and communication with residents.

Cllr McKenzie said: “The example that I’ve given shows a trebling of the overall service charge. Gas, specifically, in that case that I’ve shared has gone up from under £700 in 2023/24 to over £2,300 in 2024/25.

“That bill comes off the back of an additional charge of over £1500 that was issued last autumn to balance off charges from 2022/23. Residents don’t know whether a similar figure is going to appear again this autumn to balance off charges from 2023/24.

“I’ve got residents getting in touch with me who are on pension credit, who are extremely anxious about these bills coming through the door and they simply cannot afford to pay them. It’s as simple as that for some of them.

“Crucially, the motion seeks agreement that the council should not automatically pass on price increases for commercial energy to residents without due consideration of the implications.”

Councillors agreed to review the charges and discuss the issue further at next month’s housing committee meeting.