Residents with communal heating will save up to 63% on bills from August
Residents with communal heating for their properties in Flintshire will see their bills fall by up to 63% from August.
Thanks to Flintshire County Council securing its 2026/27 fuel tariff before the Iran conflict, residents in 416 properties across eight schemes will see domestic heating bills fall by 17% on average – but some properties will see much bigger savings.
Officers did warn that the impact of the conflict in the Middle East would mean next year tariffs were likely to increase however.
Residents of Acacia Close in Mold will see will see their weekly charges drop by around 12%, with a two-bedroom property’s bill dropping from £10.50 to £9.24.
At Glan-y-Morfa Court One in Connah’s Quay residents will save 30%, with the two-bed charge dropping from £14.34 to £10.08. Court Two will see charges for one-bed properties drop 32% from £10.05 to £6.80.
Also in Connah’s Quay, people living in Chapel Court will see bills for their one-bed properties reduce by 42% from £6.60 to £3.80.
The biggest savers will be in Holywell where the scheme at Llwyn Beuno will to the week bill for a two-bed property drop 63% from £9.18 to £3.36.
Elsewhere in Holywell Llwyn Aled resident will see bills fall 31%, with a two-bedroom property going from £11.76 to £8.16.
Castle Heights in Flint will see two-bed costs go down from £9.96 to £5.58, a reduction of 44%, while at Richard Heights someone living in a similar property will save 30% as their bill falls from £8.46 to £5.88. Bolingbroke Heights residents will see the same savings.
Chief Officer for Housing and Communities Vicky Clark told Flintshire’s Community and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee that there were also plans to introduce individual metering to help monitor use and provide more accurate billing.
The rate we’ll charge has decreased by approximately 17% across the eight communal schemes,” she said.
“The caveat is that we did negotiate that new fuel tariff prior to the recent war in the Middle East so prices look fairly stable. However, we are conscious that this may have more of an impact in 2027–28.
“We do pay those fuel charges in advance through the council’s heating reserve account. We then collect that from contract holders in addition to the weekly rent charge.”
She added that plans to install individual meters to measure residents usage were well advanced and once complete would allow the authority to charge residents based on their heating use.
“We are progressing with the installation of individual metering for tenants,” said Ms Clark.
“We have completed all the blocks apart from the three ‘Heights’ in Flint, as we are currently doing a substantial amount of grant‑funded fire safety works on those blocks.
“We will be putting forward a phased approach to individual billing, and that’s to enable us, once those meters are installed, to ensure that the data that we are receiving through those meters is accurate and that tenants will get their individual bill.”
Cllr Gladys Healey said she was concerned that individual billing might see older or vulnerable residents avoiding using their heating to save money.
“I am quite worried for care of the elderly,” she said. “We know elderly people not using the heating because of poverty is a great problem. How do you monitor that and are there people who go out to them?”
Ms Clark said that the individual meters would actually make monitoring those situations much easier.
“We will monitor the bills for individual tenants, so if there are any concerns about them not using the heating because they’re concerned about the bill, we will get out there very quickly and support them.
“Where it might seem to be quite high we will also get out to ensure tenants are supported.”
By Alec Doyle – Local Democracy Reporter
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