What’s the deal with Standing Charges?

If you’re a social landlord, you’ve probably noticed it: bills going up, even when usage stays low. That’s not a glitch. That’s the standing charge. a fixed daily fee applied to every energy meter, no matter how much (or how little) energy is used.

And right now, it’s quietly eating into your budgets.

What is a standing charge?

It’s a flat daily fee added to every energy bill. Think of it as a line rental for your gas or electricity meter. You pay it whether your property is occupied or not.

Typical rates in 2025? Average daily standing charges per fuel, from 01 April 2025, are:

53.80p per day for electricity

32.67p per day for gas

That’s over £300 a year, if a home has both gas and electric supplies – just in standing charges. And that’s just for one of your empty properties!

Why it matters for social landlords

For a landlord with 100 void properties, empty for an average of 90-days, that’s potentially more than £7,700, before anyone switches on a kettle!

Here’s how it impacts you:

• Void properties still incur charges even when empty.
• Delays in supplier switching can lead to overpaying.
• Multiple meters across estates or blocks? Each one racks up charges.
• Hard-to-access meters might mean you’re paying standing charges on a meter no one’s using, or worse, no one knew about.

What can landlords do?

Audit your meters

Identify all active meters across your stock. You’d be surprised how many “mystery meters” are uncovered, especially in communal areas.

Manage voids smartly

Use a void energy management service to:

• Avoid unnecessary standing charges
• Switch suppliers quickly
• Track void durations and costs in one portal

Know your numbers

Standing charges might look small on paper, but over time, across hundreds of homes, they add up. Make them visible in your reporting. If you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it.

Ultimately, standing charges aren’t going away. In fact, with the energy market still adjusting post-crisis, they’re becoming a bigger slice of the bill pie. That means landlords who act now will protect their budgets and better support residents