Moving a tenant out and the next one in: what a London new-build changeover really costs
Short answer: a changeover is a check-out report, a clean, a check-in report, council tax and standing charges for the empty days, referencing and marketing, and in a new-build the close and reopen of the communal heat account. That last step is the slow one: the deposit waits on a final bill, and an unpaid one lands on the landlord.
This is the moving-out half of new-build management. Our post on new-build utility management covers the set-up at move-in. This one is about what happens when a tenant gives notice, and why the communal bill decides how long everything else takes.
What does a landlord actually pay when a tenant moves out?
| Step | What it is | Who pays | Where it says so |
|---|---|---|---|
| Check-out report | An independent clerk records the condition and the meter readings on the last day | The landlord: £108 for a studio or one-bed, up to £155 for a four-bed | Our terms, clause 5.1 |
| Clean | A professional clean between tenancies | The landlord, unless the check-out evidences the flat was left below its check-in standard, less fair wear and tear | Deposit scheme practice |
| Council tax on the empty days | From the day nobody lives there | The landlord, as owner | Local Government Finance Act 1992 s.6(2)(f) |
| Standing charges | Electricity, water and the heat network, charged whether or not anyone is home | The landlord | The supply terms; Essential Terms §64.1 |
| Referencing, tenancy, marketing | Finding the next tenant | £0 with us; a letting fee with most agents | Our fee |
| Check-in report | Condition and opening readings on day one of the next tenancy | The landlord: £125 for a studio or one-bed, up to £175 for a four-bed | Our terms, clause 5.1 |
| Deposit release | Within 10 days of both sides agreeing the amount | The scheme | GOV.UK, tenancy deposit protection |
Two of those lines are cheap. The rest are a function of how many empty days there are, and of how long the account you do not control takes to close.
Why is the communal heat bill the slow part of a new-build move-out?
Almost every modern new-build block runs a heat network. The head lease usually binds the leaseholder to the building's heat supplier, and in many buildings the account cannot move into a tenant's name at all. Essential Terms §64.1 says so plainly: where bills must stay in the landlord's name, the landlord receives them and recovers the cost from the tenant. On a new-build heat network that is the default, not the exception.
So a move-out does not close an account. It closes a period. The billing agent has to bill the leaver up to the check-out reading, bill the landlord for the empty days, then open the next tenant's period from the check-in reading. Three periods, one account, on the billing agent's timetable.
The law sets the standard for the bill, not the speed. Regulation 9 of the Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014 requires bills to be accurate and based on actual consumption where that is technically possible and economically justified, and allows an estimate where the customer gives no reading. Since 27 January 2026 Ofgem regulates heat networks under the Heat Networks (Market Framework) (Great Britain) Regulations 2025, and its consumer protection rules launched that day. In our experience the final bill still arrives when the billing agent produces it.
That is why the check-out reading matters more on a new-build than anywhere else. It is the one piece of evidence that turns an estimated final bill into an actual one, and it goes to the billing agent on the day.
What happens if the tenant leaves the communal bill unpaid?
Where the account is in the leaseholder's name, the supplier's customer is the landlord. The bill is the landlord's to pay and then to recover. There are two routes. The deposit, if the tenancy agreement makes the tenant liable for heat and the readings evidence the consumption, and a claim against the former tenant for anything left. The deposit is capped at five weeks' rent where the annual rent is under £50,000 (Tenant Fees Act 2019, Schedule 1, paragraph 2), and every other deduction shares it. Our post on why most deposit claims are over-claims explains what the schemes accept as evidence.
Until the final bill exists there is no number to deduct, so the whole deposit waits. We won't settle a deposit on a guessed bill, and we won't blame a tenant for a delay that belongs to the billing agent.
How long should the deposit take to come back?
Two clocks, and tenants only know one of them. At the start, the deposit must be protected within 30 days of receipt (Housing Act 2004 s.213(3)). At the end, GOV.UK tells tenants the landlord must return the deposit within 10 days of both sides agreeing how much comes back. The clock runs from agreement, and agreement cannot happen before the final heat bill.
Tenants read "10 days" and count from the day they hand back the keys. That gap is where most changeover complaints come from, and it is closed on the check-out day by saying what is still open and why. Our deposit returns page sets out the process as we run it.
What does the empty flat cost while you wait?
The rent, first. Every empty day is rent that never comes back, which is the whole argument of our post on void days. Then council tax: with no resident, the owner is the liable person under s.6(2)(f) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, and whether your borough gives any discount on an empty flat is the borough's decision. Then the standing charges on every supply, including the heat network, which run whether or not anyone is home.
None of that waits for the billing agent. The way to keep it small is to market the flat inside the notice period, within the four-week rule, so the check-out and the check-in fall days apart rather than weeks.
What a new-build changeover looks like when it is run properly
- Notice received. Book the check-out clerk. Start marketing inside the four-week window.
- Check-out day. Report and readings. Readings to the suppliers and the billing agent the same day. The refresh between tenancies starts the next morning.
- Check-in day. Report and opening readings. The new tenant is briefed on the heat network and its top-up route before the keys change hands.
- Deposit. Agree the undisputed items at once. The heat line follows the bill. Release within 10 days of agreement.
- Council tax. Notified for the empty days and again for the new tenancy.
What it costs with us
Our fee is one all-in fee of 10% of the monthly rent, including VAT, charged only in the months a tenant is actually paying rent. £0 during a void. £0 to re-let. No letting fee, no renewal fee, no rent-review fee. The changeover bill above is the same whether the flat is furnished or unfurnished; what changes with us is that no letting fee is added to it, however often a tenant moves on. What happens to our fee when a tenant leaves early shows the arithmetic.
Sources
- Local Government Finance Act 1992, s.6 (persons liable to pay council tax; the owner where there is no resident): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/14/section/6
- Housing Act 2004, s.213 (requirements relating to tenancy deposits; the initial requirements within 30 days of receipt): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/34/section/213
- GOV.UK, Tenancy deposit protection (return within 10 days of agreeing the amount; protection within 30 days): https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection
- The Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/3120), regulation 9 (billing): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/3120/regulation/9
- The Heat Networks (Market Framework) (Great Britain) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/269): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/269/contents · Ofgem, Countdown to the launch of new regulatory rules for heat networks (6 January 2026; rules launched 27 January 2026): https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/blog/countdown-launch-new-regulatory-rules-heat-networks
- Tenant Fees Act 2019, Schedule 1, paragraph 2 (tenancy deposit capped at five weeks' rent where the annual rent is under £50,000): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/4/schedule/1
- Harvey W James, Terms, clause 5.1 (inventory pricing) and Essential Terms §64.1 (utility bills that must stay in the landlord's name), as published on harveywjames.com.
All statute text read as consolidated point-in-time data.xml from legislation.gov.uk on 18 September 2026.
Own a new-build flat and dreading the next changeover? Book a free new-build rental appraisal and we will walk you through how we run one, from the notice to the deposit.