I am a landlord of a property that contains several offices and one residential flat. We are housing a Ukranian family in the flat. They both have full time jobs now, so are paying utilities. We want them to be able to access the government subsidy for energy bills, but the supply has a shared meter with the offices and is registered as a business. There is one electricy meter and 2 gas meters (one for the flat). Is it possible to split the supply before the electricity meter and have a second installed and registered as a domestic supply and if so, what sort of cost?
Answer
Splitting a business supply in an office block that has residential flat - how to create a domestic supply?
Best answer by Blastoise186
Updated on 16/09/25 by Abby_OVO
This may be possible but you’ll need to first get the current supplier to help you create a new supply which may have to initially be a business supply and then convert it to domestic later - this is possible if you can show evidence that the supply in question is no longer being used for business purposes. Your DNO will also need to be involved so that a new service fuse can be installed, among other things.
You’ll need to get an electrician to do some re-wiring so that the flat is completely split off onto the new supply. Feel free to help them switch to any supplier of their choice once it’s all set up and is converted to domestic!
Costs vary I’m afraid so you’ll have to get a quote.
Can I just ask what part of the country the property is in please? Region/County is plenty for what I need.
It's in Bolton in the North West. Thank you
Perfect, in that case I believe your DNO is Electricity North West. This allows me to tailor my advice to exactly what you need.
I’ve just had a chat with them for you to get the information you need to take the next step - and trust me, DNO’s have rockstar VIP customer service! :)
You can apply directly via ENWL to have a new connection created and get a quote. They’ll sort out all the meters, service fuses, MPAN and most of the work needed so that you can then get your choice of supplier to take on the supply - and it can be a domestic supply right from day 1 too so that’ll make it easier.
To get the ball rolling, they’ve asked me to give you these contact options:
0800 988 1730
https://enwl.co.uk/get-connected
Feel free to choose either one! There will be a charge for this service, but ENWL will give you a quote in advance and won’t charge you without your agreement.
You’d be welcome to sign up for OVO or any other supplier once the MPAN has been registered, whichever takes your fancy really. For me personally though, I’d say OVO’s newly upgraded way of doing customer service will almost certainly make it easier for your tenants as it’s highly adaptable.
To make things easier still, OVO’s Priority Services Register service can cater for members who can’t speak English, your tenants would just need to sign up for it once they’ve got an account. I think OVO has access to LanguageLine as well and I’m told the Support Team can do three-way conference calls to let an interpreter join.
+1- Plan Zero Hero
Hi
This may be possible but you’ll need to first get the current supplier to help you create a new supply which may have to initially be a business supply and then convert it to domestic later - this is possible if you can show evidence that the supply in question is no longer being used for business purposes. Your DNO will also need to be involved so that a new service fuse can be installed, among other things.
You’ll need to get an electrician to do some re-wiring so that the flat is completely split off onto the new supply. Feel free to help them switch to any supplier of their choice once it’s all set up and is converted to domestic!
Costs vary I’m afraid so you’ll have to get a quote.
Thanks for the advice. I’ve spoken to the current supplier via an online chat and you have been considerable more helpful!
+1- Plan Zero Hero
No worries.
You will probably want to assist the family with the entire process as it’s a bit complicated. I will try to dig up further advice for you and get back to you soon.
Yeah it will be me doing it, as they don’t speak good English yet! Thanks very much, greatly appreciated
+1- Plan Zero Hero
Can I just ask what part of the country the property is in please? Region/County is plenty for what I need. With this information I can adapt my advice for you and get some more information that will almost certainly make your life easier.
Hey
Welcome to the OVO Online Community!
Great to see
Hope this helps.
Can I just ask what part of the country the property is in please? Region/County is plenty for what I need. With this information I can adapt my advice for you and get some more information that will almost certainly make your life easier.
It's in Bolton in the North West. Thank you
+1- Plan Zero Hero
- Answer
Updated on 16/09/25 by Abby_OVO
This may be possible but you’ll need to first get the current supplier to help you create a new supply which may have to initially be a business supply and then convert it to domestic later - this is possible if you can show evidence that the supply in question is no longer being used for business purposes. Your DNO will also need to be involved so that a new service fuse can be installed, among other things.
You’ll need to get an electrician to do some re-wiring so that the flat is completely split off onto the new supply. Feel free to help them switch to any supplier of their choice once it’s all set up and is converted to domestic!
Costs vary I’m afraid so you’ll have to get a quote.
Can I just ask what part of the country the property is in please? Region/County is plenty for what I need.
It's in Bolton in the North West. Thank you
Perfect, in that case I believe your DNO is Electricity North West. This allows me to tailor my advice to exactly what you need.
I’ve just had a chat with them for you to get the information you need to take the next step - and trust me, DNO’s have rockstar VIP customer service! :)
You can apply directly via ENWL to have a new connection created and get a quote. They’ll sort out all the meters, service fuses, MPAN and most of the work needed so that you can then get your choice of supplier to take on the supply - and it can be a domestic supply right from day 1 too so that’ll make it easier.
To get the ball rolling, they’ve asked me to give you these contact options:
0800 988 1730
https://enwl.co.uk/get-connected
Feel free to choose either one! There will be a charge for this service, but ENWL will give you a quote in advance and won’t charge you without your agreement.
You’d be welcome to sign up for OVO or any other supplier once the MPAN has been registered, whichever takes your fancy really. For me personally though, I’d say OVO’s newly upgraded way of doing customer service will almost certainly make it easier for your tenants as it’s highly adaptable.
To make things easier still, OVO’s Priority Services Register service can cater for members who can’t speak English, your tenants would just need to sign up for it once they’ve got an account. I think OVO has access to LanguageLine as well and I’m told the Support Team can do three-way conference calls to let an interpreter join.
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+1- Plan Zero Hero
No worries. :)
If you get stuck or need any more advice, we’ll be here for you!
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Hi,
We took over a building that was once a church and converted it with planning permision and building regulatations. At present it has a commercial power. For two years we have not been allowed by our provider to change to domestic even though it has a domestic smart meter. We are paying a lot more for power than we need to. Can anyone advise why they will not change us over. The property was empty for many years and has not been used much during the conversion. Can someone advise.
Thanks
+1- Plan Zero Hero
Hey
Quick question for ya - who is your current supplier? If you’re happy to tell us, we can adapt our advice to be a bit more helpful and specific.
Don’t worry if you’d rather not say as we can still advise anyway if that makes you more comfortable.
+1- Plan Zero Hero
Thanks!
E.On Next is supposed to be able to deal with Business → Domestic migrations. If you’ve been given a reason for the refusal, that would help a ton.
Otherwise, you’ll need to switch away to another supplier that offers both types and ask them to flip you over to Domestic so you can unlock those tariffs and switch to Domestic suppliers.
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Hey
Welcome to the community!
That sounds like an exciting project and we’d love to see some photos of the finished project if you’re up for it.
Just to add to what @Blastoise186 said, it’s a good idea to let your Distribution Network Operator (DNO) know if you haven’t already. I’ve included a link below to help you reach out to them.
E.ON will be able to update their records to indicate the change from a business supply to a domestic supply. They might send an engineer out for a quick site inspection to verify everything. Once that’s done, they’ll close your business account, send you a final bill, and open a new domestic account with a domestic tariff.
Until all of that is sorted out, switching to a supplier that only handles domestic supplies (like us!) could be a bit tricky, since we don’t have the setup to manage business accounts. If you have any questions or need further help, feel free to ask!
Keep us updated on your progress and we’ll try to offer as much advice as we can!
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