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New owner of 7 flats with one meter and 7 submeters. How do I switch to 1 landlord meter and 7 supply meters?

  • 6 October 2022
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  • pkt
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Hi all,

I’m purchasing a detached former guest house that has been converted into 7 small flats.  Presently, there is 1 electric meter and 7 submeters in the various flats (all PAYG, 5 card, 2 coin-operated).  Each flat has its own consumer unit, some quite old.  An electrician has confirmed I have 3 phase coming in from the street to the building.  Ovo is the supplier.

I want to make each of the flats self-contained, replacing the submeters with their own smartmeters and convert the current meter to be a landlord meter covering the common parts of the building.

I dont think i need SSEN to be involved but I presume some coordination is required between an electrician and Ovo (as Ovo will own and have to install the new smart meters?)? 

Would be very grateful for more experienced members views on how to plan and sequence this, and the timeframes involved please?!

(I attach a photo of the existing meter setup)

THANK YOU in advance!!

PT

 

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Best answer by Blastoise186 6 October 2022, 16:41

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Blastoise186
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Hey @pkt !

Thanks for all the details so far. I’m one of the forum volunteers around here. :)

Can you post any more photos of other meters and setups as this will definitely help us out!

I’ll be back in a few hours once I’ve had a chance to think this one through.

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Hi @Blastoise186 !

Thanks for your reply/help - please see below photos of each flat submeter…

Many thanks!

 

 

Blastoise186
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Updated on 19/10/23 by Abby_OVO

 

 

 

Thanks. This helps a ton!

Ok, first things first. You will need to get your DNO involved to help create seven NEW Connections, one for each flat. If that’s SSEN they’ll be best placed to assist with that particular process and they should be able to help you out with installing service fuses for each flat - and they will also create seven new MPANs as well to link to each flat. You’ll also need a supplier to fit a new meter for each one as well. OVO can probably do this if they currently supply the property in at least some capacity and can now take on new connections too. Here’s an existing and somewhat related thread in case it helps!

Once the MPANs are known, a supplier would be able to take on the supply on the same day and fit meters if the DNO didn’t do so initially and would be able to create the accounts to get things going. I would advise that you create all these accounts in your name to begin with (make sure to tell OVO that these are to be temporary landlord accounts while you wait for tenants!), and then instruct OVO to install Smart Meters in each flat if it’s not already been done. OVO’s policy is to always go Smart Meters by default.

Once you have new tenants for each flat, please inform OVO that a new tenant has moved in to that flat, and then ask the new tenant to create new accounts with OVO for their flat as soon as possible. This will close your temporary Landlord account and pass control to them.

Given that the current master Landlord Meter is already Three-Phase… To be honest you may as well keep it as Three-Phase because OVO is starting to roll-out Three-Phase SMETS2 Smart Meters, initially in limited numbers in certain areas. Given what I think your intentions are, it’d give you a lot more flexibility for the common areas of the building and makes it so you don’t spend quite as much cash in the conversions. :)

Let us know if you need more advice! We’ll be around if you need us. :)

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Hi @Blastoise186 ,

Thanks so much for your help and knowledge.

I was hoping that as we have 3 phase coming in to the ‘cutout’ - and from my basic understanding this is where the network provider’s responsibility ends (the blue colour on SSEN’s helpful diagram attached) - that the supplier could create the new connections and then apply to SSEN for the MPANs?  Sounds like this is not possible sadly! 

In terms of physical activities is it therefore SSEN who would need to physically split the cables coming in to the cutout - to then ensure that sufficient cables are then coming out of the cutout to go to each new smart meter and consumer unit?

I did try to speak to SSEN but they say I have to begin by filling in an application form online (response in 35 working days) - but that asks me for the flat kVAs and ADMD which is beyond my understanding!

Thanks for your help, I’m keen to be crystal clear on the process, and who needs to do what, and when!

P

 

Blastoise186
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You’re pretty close there, and yep that diagram is correct based on the information I’ve got. It matches up with official sources.

You will need to deal with both OVO and SSEN at around the same time to get this show on the road. I’d suggest having a chat with OVO first to see whether they can do the entire process, but I get the feeling you’ll need to get SSEN involved before OVO can help. They would also figure out the best way of splitting up the supply - but it is extremely likely that new infrastructure will need to come in from the street.

As for KVA and ADMD stuff, I’d recommend talking to your electrician about that. They’ll probably know what it means!

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