Student Bills in Nottingham

Quick links:

• What to sort first
• Decide how you’ll pay your bills
• Student energy bills in Nottingham: Gas and electricity
• Nottingham students’ water bills
• Broadband & TV for Nottingham student houses
• Nottingham Council Tax & TV Licence
• The ultimate Nottingham bills and budgeting cheatsheet
• Nottingham student bills? Sorted

Let's get you set up for successful student living in Nottingham. It’s a popular student pick; The nightlife, efficient transport links, and beautiful parks mean that over 60,000 students are studying there at any one time. 

To set yourself up to live your Nottingham student dreams, you’ll need to get to grips with:

• Student housing: For both the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent, housing is spread across the city. Arboretum, Beeston, and Lenton are all popular choices.

• Budget: Where you live will be dictated by your budget! How much can you and your housemates afford to pay?

• Bills: With rent covered, you’ll need to figure out which bills are essentials and the best way to pay them.  Wherever you and your housemates choose, you’ll need to make sure you can afford it. 

If this is your first time setting up and paying bills, it can be overwhelming.

The guide will cover:

• How to set up your student bills
• Average bill prices for Nottingham
• How to easily split the cost to avoid awkwardness with housemates

What to sort first 👀

Just signed for your student house in Nottingham? Nice one 🎉, you’re in the right place! Let’s break down what your bills might look like and how much it’ll likely cost you to live your Notts dreams. 

Don’t wait ‘til September to get sorted, sort these steps now to save time and hassle later. (Don’t panic if you have left it late, you can definitely still do all of this at the last minute!)

•  Check what’s included in your rent: 
  • Before signing a student housing contract, ask what’s rolled into the rent and what you’ll need to cover yourself.  Landlords might include water and broadband in the tenancy, or even all bills. Whatever the setup, make sure you have it in writing from day one. 
• Find out your current utility suppliers: 
  • Ask the landlord who supplies your gas, electricity, and broadband.
  • You don’t have to stick with these suppliers, but you will be responsible for bills from the day your tenancy agreement starts, so you’ll need to contact them if you want to switch.
• Make an account with your water supplier, Severn Trent: 
  • This is the water supplier for all properties in Nottingham, so you’ll need to get set up if it’s not included in your rent.
  • Even if you don’t plan to move in until Fresher’s Week, you’re responsible for the water bill from the contract start date, too. 

• Get ahead on broadband setup: 
  • Broadband can take the longest to sort if it’s not included in your rent. You might have to wait a couple of weeks for installation, so the sooner you get sorted, the better.
  • Find out who covers your area using Ofcom’s broadband availability checker.
• TV Licence: 
  • You need a TV Licence if you plan to watch TV or anything on BBC iPlayer. You can easily set this up online and pay monthly or quarterly, or include it in your bills package with Fused.
• Council tax: 
  • Students who are full-time (1 year, 21+ hours/week) don’t pay council tax, so tell Nottingham City Council you’re exempt.

Decide how you’ll pay your bills 🤝

Agree with your housemates how you’ll pay bills and who’ll take responsibility for each task.

If you’re reading this, then you’re probably keen to get it sorted, but it doesn’t have to come down to you. Choose a payment strategy that works for everyone:

• Split the bills manually: 
  • It’s a hassle, but a common approach, especially if one person offers to take the lead.  A spreadsheet can be useful to track payments each month. But if people pay late, it could get awkward and cause financial issues!.
• Split bills in a banking app: 
  • Some banking apps have a feature to split the bills or send housemates a link to pay. 
  • This means one account is still responsible for all the direct debits, and you’ll need to trust your housemates to pay on time or have the money in their account 
• A joint house bank account: 
  • Some banks allow joint accounts for multiple people, but everyone has access to the funds, and people have to send their share on time to stop everyone from going into debt.
• Create a bills package with Fused: 
  • Roll gas, electricity, water, broadband, and TV Licence into one monthly payment with Fused. 
  • You can set up individual direct debits so you only ever pay your share.

Once you’re sorted, you can relax knowing you’re set up to start the next academic year in your uni house.

Step 2: You’re moving in!

Moving day is exciting! Before you can get ready and head to the Lace Market or rot on the sofa for pizza and scrolling make sure you follow this quick checklist to get your student bills sorted:

1. Find your energy and water meters and take a dated photo: 
   1. Your landlord or inventory will give info on where to find meters.
   2. Take your own pictures of the meters, even if they’re included in the inventory in case of future disputes. 
2. Submit the reading to your utility supplier: 
   1.  Send them a meter reading, then switch to another supplier or a better deal. The initial energy tariff will always be more expensive. 
3. Tell the council you’re exempt from council tax:
   1. If you’re all full-time students, head to theNottingham City Council website to let the council know.
4. Test your internet connection: 
   1. This should all be set up for moving day. If not, click here to go to the broadband section to get full instructions on setup. 

Bills can seem daunting, especially if it’s your first time setting them up. Keep reading to answer your questions about gas, electricity, and other bills you’ll be paying in your student house.

Student energy bills in Nottingham: Gas and electricity 💡

This will vary depending on the type of student place you rent. 

1. Energy bills rolled into your tenancy: You can’t choose who supplies it, but you also don’t need to worry about sorting them out yourself.
2. Electricity only: This is more common in apartment blocks using storage heaters and electric boilers.
3. Gas and electricity: The most common situation is that you have both energy bills to pay, and need to find and set up a tariff to suit your budget. 

If you’re not sure, ask your landlord and check your tenancy agreement so you know exactly what you’re responsible for. 

How to set up your gas and electricity

1. Find out who supplies your property and set up an account on their website.
2. Take a dated photo of your meters and upload them to your supplier’s website. It’s a good idea to send to your landlord too.. Find a good energy tariffs: Use this Ofgem tool to find out who covers your area, or set up a bills package. 
3. Set up a direct debit with your chosen supplier so you don’t miss any payments.
4. Pay a final bill for your old supplier (if you’re switching)  to cover the period between moving in and switching.

You might get quarterly or monthly bills. Either way, you can still pay monthly. Paying by direct debit is usually the cheapest option. It lowers admin costs so many suppliers pass on this saving. 

How to read your energy bill

Utility bills are more straightforward once you understand the jargon.  All energy bills are made up of the same elements:

1. Cost per kWh (kilowatt hour): This is the price per unit (kilowatt hour) of gas and electricity.
2. Daily standing charges: A fixed daily fee to cover the supplier’s costs

What’s The Energy Price Cap?

The Energy Price Cap is a limit on the price per unit (kWh) of electricity and gas, and the daily standing charge. It’s important to know that the cap is a restriction on what you pay per unit, not your whole bill. If you use more energy than is in your monthly allowance, you’ll pay more.

Visit our Energy Price Gap page to get the most up-to-date costs.

Read our guide to saving energy and keep your costs down.

The average gas and electric bill for a student house in Nottingham

There are so many variables, so any averages should only be treated as guides. The size of your student home in Nottingham, how many people you share with, and other factors will affect your monthly costs.

That said, here are some of the average Direct Debit utility bill costs:

Low usage (flat or 1-bedroom house / 1–2 people)

• Gas: 8,000 kWh
• Electricity: 1,800 kWh
• Average cost: £102.88 per month

Medium usage (3-bedroom house / 2–3 people)

• Gas: 12,000 kWh
• Electricity: 2,700 kWh
• Average cost: £143.29 per month

High usage (5-bedroom house / 4–5 people)

• Gas: 17,000 kWh
• Electricity: 4,100 kWh
• Average cost: £202.33 per month

Nottingham students’ water bills 💧

Before you set up your water bill, check your tenancy agreement to see if it’s actually your responsibility. It could be included in your rent. 

If not, set up an account with Severn Trent Water, the supplier for Nottingham. The average water bill in Nottingham is £556 per year, that’s about £44 a month.

Direct debit is the easiest way to pay for water, because you won’t have to think about it. If you want to make bills even easier, put them all in one payment with a Fused bills package. 

Broadband & TV for Nottingham student houses🛜

If broadband is included in your rent, it should be set up and working when you move in. 

If not, you’ll need to plug in your router. If you’ve set it up in time, it should arrive in time for moving day. 

Need to sort your own TV and broadband? Make it a top priority.  You can wait  7-14 days (or even longer) for installation. Find out who covers your area on the Ofcom website. Supplier websites or comparison tools will help you find a good deal for your budget.  

Don’t end up with a long contract by mistake! Look for a 12-month or custom student broadband deal to avoid paying an exit fee. 

In Nottingham, the most common providers are Sky, TalkTalk, BT, and Vodafone. Check each one for speeds, tariffs and perks. Read our student broadband guide for more info.

Nottingham Council Tax & TV Licence 🏡 

These bills are both legal obligations with important exemptions. Here’s what you need to know:

Council tax for students

You are exempt from council tax as full-time students (on a course that’s at least 1 year and over 21+ hours/week). Tell Nottingham City Council you’re exempt.

If one of your housemates is part-time or not studying, they’ll need to pay council tax. If it’s just one tenant, this would be classed as a ‘single occupant’, so they’d get a 25% discount.

TV Licence

If you watch live TV (i.e., TV as it’s broadcast) on any service (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, etc.) or you stream anything on BBC iPlayer, then you need a TV Licence. 

 If you only watch other streaming services (not including BBC iPlayer), you don’t need one, but you do need to claim an exemption. 

TV Licence is £174.50 per year, you can also pay quarterly (£44.89) or monthly, which is £29.10 for the first 6 months, then £14.54 monthly.

You can roll TV Licence into your monthly bills package with Fused.

The ultimate Nottingham bills and budgeting cheatsheet 👈

✨ Bills to expect as a Nottingham student:

Download your free cheatsheet for student bills and budgeting. 

Nottingham student bills? Sorted ✅

Before you head out to hang out with mates at the students’ union bar, make sure your bills are sorted first. That way, you’ll know exactly how much cash is left over.

Sorting your bills early doesn’t just help you budget; it also saves you from any awkward chats with your housemates later on. With Fused’s student bills packages, you can cover your energy, water, broadband, and TV Licence in one simple monthly payment, split evenly between everyone in the house.

Ready to sort your bills? Get a quote with Fused.