Including bills in rent or not, is what we will discuss here.
Most tenants will ask to have bills included in their rent payments. It makes it easier to budget, no doubt. If each individual paid bills in the house, that could become a big problem in the household because this would put each person pitting against the other if and when bills were divided.
In this article, I will try to go into detail about the pros and cons of each side of the coin.

What bills are we talking about?
Bills usually consist of water and electricity, which usually include heating and hot water, as well as the internet. To most landlords, the internet is a fixed cost, so no matter how much data you use, the price is the same. But other bills such as water and electricity can prove to be a big headache for most landlords, which is based on the usage of each individual. And this usage, depending on the person, can be responsible, normal usage, or excessive usage, such as taking extra long showers, using the washing machine every day for one or two garments, and leaving the heater on endlessly in the winter without care for the landlord or for the parents that are paying the bills.

This fall in 2023 a letter to each tenant will be sent regarding energy usage:

Dear Guest,

As we approach one of the meanest winters of this century concerning energy bills, I wanted to reach out to each one of you.

Upon home visits, I have seen firsthand, how some of you use the washing machine with just a few garments inside on 3-hour cycles... I have also seen from the street how some of you leave lights on and are not even at home. I have also seen how you use heaters, leaving the doors sometimes open and going to the kitchen for a meal… The rest, I can only guess…

This winter will be a test, a test to see whether it is economically feasible, the home you are at, stays on the market for short-term rentals with bills included. Some may think “why should I care, I am going home in 3 months, and I´m paying with bills included, right”? Well to answer that, there are your friends and classmates that may come to Porto and not find a room, and/or the price will be so high, it will be unrealistic. I remind you again, this is not a hotel nor Airbnb situation or you would be paying AT LEAST 4-5 times more...

It is my goal here to shed some light on the energy crisis and give you some tips:

- Washing Machine: Use cold or warm water, shorter cycles, and with a full load.
- Take shorter showers.
- Brushing your teeth or shaving: Turn off the water in between.
- Dress appropriately: wear sweaters and sweats at home and only use the heater when needed. Your skin will thank you.
- Ask for extra blankets and I will get you.
- If you see a light on, turn it off.
- Never leave your heater unattended.

And finally, if there is a spike in energy costs, over the previous averages, be prepared to pay extra.
If you have any ideas to improve energy efficiency in your room or home, let me know.
In the end, as landlord, I prefer to include the bills for various reasons. Firstly, if bills were not included, it would put the housemates at each other. They will ultimately argue with each other, for instance, one who always has the heater on while the other doesn’t even like using the heater at all. Or there is the one that traveled for 3 weeks last month and still has to share the bills with everyone else. That person will feel that the system is unfair. Then there will be those that ultimately argue with the landlord over maybe a 5 euro surcharge because maybe it was miscalculated on his part or the meter count was misread. It basically comes down to there being friction in the air. Thus it is preferable that everyone has their bills included in the rent, so long is there is reasonable usage, which can be compared to previous years.