Student Bills 2026: Average Costs and the Cheapest Way to Pay

Nobody tells you at an open day that the hardest module at uni is working out who owes what for the gas.

So we did the maths for you.

We used current figures from Ofgem, Water UK and TV Licensing, plus the student bills companies' own websites, to build a transparent 2026 budget. That means you can see what a shared house may cost to run, what each housemate might pay and whether a student bills package is worth the extra money.

The short version is this: arranging the bills yourselves will usually cost less if your house uses a normal amount of energy. A package can still be worth paying for if you want fixed payments, less admin or uncapped energy, but the public prices are not directly comparable with normal pay-for-what-you-use tariffs.

The useful question is not simply, "Which option is cheapest?" It is, "How much are we paying someone else to take the admin and energy-price risk away?"

How much are student bills per month in 2026?

Using a medium Ofgem energy profile, the 2026-27 average water bill and a £30 monthly broadband allowance, a shared house in England or Wales should use about £222 a month as a starting budget. That is before any TV Licence or optional extras.

Split equally, that comes to roughly:

• £111 each in a two-person house
• £74 each in a three-person house
• £55 each in a four-person house
• £44 each in a five-person house
• £37 each in a six-person house

Those are planning figures, not quotes. The house itself matters as much as the number of people in it. A draughty five-bedroom terrace with an old boiler can use far more energy than a modern flat, and an electric-only property needs a different calculation.

The figures also exclude contents insurance, streaming subscriptions, mobile bills and council tax. Full-time student-only households do not normally have to pay council tax, but the household must tell or apply to its local council.

Why Ofgem gives both £1,862 and £1,663 for the same price-cap period

This is the bit most student bills guides miss.

Ofgem announced that the energy price cap rose by 13% from 1 July 2026. Its main comparison uses the previous "typical household" consumption figures and produces an annual headline of £1,862.

Ofgem also changed its Typical Domestic Consumption Values from 1 July because household energy use has fallen. Under the revised medium-use figures of 2,500 kWh of electricity and 9,500 kWh of gas, the same July unit rates produce a benchmark annual bill of about £1,663.

Both figures are official. They are not rival tariffs and the lower number does not mean energy became cheaper. It assumes the household uses less energy.

For budgeting, the Ofgem unit rates and standing charges matter more than the headline:

These are Great Britain averages for a standard variable tariff paid by Direct Debit and include VAT. Your rates vary by region, meter and payment type. Northern Ireland has a separate energy market and is not covered by Ofgem's price cap.

Most importantly, the price cap does not cap your total bill. It limits what a supplier can charge per unit and in standing charges on default tariffs. Use more energy and you pay more.

Our 2026 student utility bills calculation

We have shown every assumption so you can replace it with a real quote or your property's previous annual usage.

For energy, we applied Ofgem's July 2026 average rates to its revised low, medium and high annual consumption profiles. We then added:

• £639 a year for water and sewerage, the Water UK national average for England and Wales in 2026-27
• £360 a year for broadband, a transparent £30 monthly planning allowance based on Save the Student's current four-person estimate
• no TV Licence in the core figure, because many student houses do not need one

These figures assume a gas-heated property with single-rate electricity, paid by Direct Debit in England or Wales. They do not include a TV Licence.

Do not copy this energy figure into an electric-only property or one using Economy 7. Electric heating and hot water can move much more of the household's energy use onto the electricity bill, while a dual-rate tariff charges different prices at different times. Use the property's previous annual kWh figures and its actual day and night rates wherever possible.

If your household needs one colour TV Licence, add £180 a year, or £15 a month for the household. One licence can cover a joint tenancy or viewing in one shared area. If housemates have separate tenancy agreements and watch in their own rooms, more than one licence may be needed.

In Scotland, water and sewerage are generally collected with council tax and any council tax discount also applies to those charges. A household made up entirely of full-time students can be exempt, but should confirm its position with the local council. The £639 water assumption should therefore not be copied into a Scottish budget.

Average student bills for two to six housemates

The table below shows what each person would pay if the relevant household total were divided equally. It is a splitting table, not a claim that a six-person house will use the same energy as a two-person house.

The per-person cost falls as fixed or partly fixed costs are shared, but energy use will normally rise as more people shower, cook and run devices. Ofgem does not publish a special student-house profile, so a large household should treat the high-use figure as a starting point, not a ceiling.

If you can get the previous tenants' annual kWh figures, use those instead. That will beat any national estimate.

What bills do students need to pay?

The usual student utility bills are:

Gas and electricity

You are responsible from the start of the tenancy, even if you have not contacted the existing supplier yet. Take opening meter readings immediately. You can compare tariffs and payment types, but check unit rates, standing charges, exit fees and the contract end date rather than assuming a fixed deal or the default tariff must be cheapest.

Gas heating versus electric heating

With gas central heating, a boiler normally uses gas for the radiators and hot water, while electricity powers lights, appliances and the boiler controls. An electric-only property also puts heating and hot water onto the electricity bill. It could use storage heaters, an immersion heater, direct electric panels or a heat pump, and each system uses electricity differently.

At the July 2026 Ofgem averages, electricity costs more per kWh than gas, but unit rates alone do not tell you the final heating cost. Insulation, controls and heating efficiency matter too. Before signing a tenancy, ask what heats the rooms and water, check the property's EPC and request the previous tenants' annual gas and electricity use. Do not budget an all-electric home using our gas-heated example.

Economy 7 and dual-rate electricity tariffs

Economy 7 charges a cheaper electricity rate during a seven-hour off-peak period and a more expensive rate at other times. It is most likely to suit a property with storage heaters or an immersion heater that charges overnight. If most electricity is used during the day, a single-rate tariff may work out cheaper.

The off-peak window is usually overnight, but its hours depend on the supplier, tariff and location, and may move when the clocks change. The property also needs a dual-rate meter or compatible smart meter that records peak and off-peak use separately. Photograph and submit both readings on move-in day, and ask the supplier which is day and night if the displays only say Rate 1 and Rate 2.

When comparing an Economy 7 tariff, check:

• the peak and off-peak unit rates
• the exact off-peak hours
• the daily standing charge
• how much electricity the property used on each register last year
• whether the storage heaters and hot-water timer are set to charge off-peak
• whether a new supplier can support the meter and heating setup

Some older electric-heating homes have a Radio Teleswitch Service meter. Ofgem says the RTS signal is being switched off in phases. If the meter or a nearby box is labelled RTS, Radio Teleswitch or Dynamically Teleswitched, contact the supplier for a suitable replacement so the heating and hot water are not disrupted.

Water and sewerage

In England and Wales, the regional supplier is fixed, so you cannot switch. Check whether water is already included in your rent and whether the property is metered. The £639 figure is a national household average, not the price every house pays.

Broadband

Compare the total contract cost, not just the opening monthly price. Check speed, setup fees, annual rises and whether the minimum term runs beyond your tenancy. Start early because installation or activation can take time. Once you know what you need, compare current Virgin Media offers, BT Broadband deals and EE Broadband discounts on MyVoucherCodes.

TV Licence

A colour licence costs £180 from 1 April 2026. You need one to watch or record live TV on any channel or service, or to use BBC iPlayer. You do not need one only to watch on-demand services such as Netflix or Disney+, on-demand programmes on services such as Channel 4 or Prime Video, or ordinary YouTube videos.

Council tax

A household made up only of qualifying full-time students is normally exempt, but do not assume the council already knows. Tell the council and provide any evidence it requests. Mixed student and non-student households can be treated differently.

Contents insurance

This is optional and is not included in our cost model. Check whether a parent's policy already covers belongings away from home before buying another policy.

Student bills package comparison

A student bills package combines some or all of your utilities into one payment. The provider sets up or manages the supplier accounts and usually collects a separate payment from each housemate.

The catch is that most providers only reveal the real price after you enter the address, tenancy dates, number of housemates and chosen services. That makes a league table of headline prices look more certain than the evidence allows.

Here is what the providers publicly state as of 28 July 2026:

Separate Direct Debits are useful, but do not treat the phrase "everyone pays their own share" as a complete explanation of liability. Read the provider's current contract to see what happens if someone does not join, misses a payment or leaves the tenancy.

What is the cheapest student bills package?

There is no defensible UK-wide winner without getting address-specific quotes.

Epic is the only provider in this shortlist currently showing a usable headline price for a full energy, water and broadband package: its Essentials package starts from £20 per person, per week. That makes Epic the most transparent public starting point in this comparison, not automatically the cheapest final quote.

To find the cheapest package for your house:

1. Choose exactly the same services with each provider.
2. Use the same address, housemate count and tenancy dates.
3. Compare the full-tenancy total, not only the weekly number.
4. Check whether energy is metered, capped or genuinely uncapped.
5. Check fees and what happens if a housemate leaves.

The simplest comparison formula is:

Package price per person per week x number of housemates x tenancy weeks

Compare that total with realistic DIY energy use, the water bill and an actual broadband quote.

Are student bills packages cheaper than arranging bills yourself?

Usually not in a normally heated house, but it depends on the quote and how much energy you use.

Here is a worked example for a five-person house. We use the high Ofgem consumption profile, Water UK's average and the £30 monthly broadband allowance. That gives a DIY household total of about £3,332 a year, or £666 per person. It works out at approximately £12.82 per person, per week.

Epic's Essentials headline starts from £20 per person, per week. Annualised over 52 weeks, that is £1,040 each.

In that example, the package costs about 56% more.

That is not proof that every package will be 56% more expensive. The Epic figure is a "from" price, the real quote may differ and the package includes unlimited energy. DIY customers pay for every extra kWh, while an uncapped provider takes on that usage risk. The package is therefore closer to utilities plus admin plus a form of price certainty.

If your house is efficient and careful, DIY is likely to look better. If it is freezing, poorly insulated and occupied all day, the gap may narrow. Get the actual quote and run both numbers.

Bills included or paying separately: which is better?

Choose DIY if keeping the cost down matters most. You keep control of the suppliers, can switch when it suits the household and avoid a management premium. It works best when the group is organised and can keep a bills buffer for winter.

Choose a package if predictability matters most. One fixed payment and uncapped energy can be valuable if the household would rather pay more than argue about heating or face a large catch-up bill.

Choose a package cautiously if housemate payment risk is the main reason. Separate collections can reduce the monthly chasing, but only the provider's contract can tell you whether one person's non-payment can affect everyone else.

If a landlord offers bills-included rent, do the same calculation. Multiply the weekly bills supplement by the number of tenants and tenancy weeks, then compare it with your own household estimate. Also read the fair-usage and overuse clauses.

How to split student bills fairly

If you arrange the bills yourselves, agree the system before the first payment is due.

One person can manage each account while everyone transfers a monthly contribution by standing order. A free bill-splitting app can keep a running record when different people manage different services.

Understand the legal side before choosing account names. Citizens Advice explains that:

• if only one person's name is on a utility account, that person is legally responsible for the whole bill
• if the account is in everyone's names, the supplier can pursue any named person for outstanding debt, even if that person has already paid their agreed share

Adding names therefore spreads exposure; it does not neatly divide the debt into equal legal shares.

A simple written house agreement will not override the supplier's contract, but it can record how you have agreed to split payments and what happens if someone leaves.

Be careful with joint bank accounts too. Opening one creates a financial association between the account holders. Experian says lenders may consider an associate's credit history when deciding whether to approve future borrowing. Sharing an address alone does not create that link.

How to reduce student bills in 2026

Start with evidence, not estimates

Photograph the gas, electricity and water meters on move-in day and submit the readings. If the electricity meter has more than one register, record every reading and ask the supplier to confirm which is peak and off-peak. Keep the photos. Ask the landlord or previous tenants for annual kWh usage if it is available.

Compare energy tariffs properly

Compare unit rates, standing charges, payment type, exit fees and the full remaining tenancy period. A fixed tariff buys certainty, but it can be above or below future price-cap rates. For Economy 7 or another time-of-use tariff, compare both rates and estimate how much electricity the household will genuinely use off-peak. Citizens Advice recommends checking that a new supplier and tariff will work with a time-of-use meter. After comparing the tariff itself, check the current MoneySuperMarket energy offers listed on MyVoucherCodes.

Match broadband to the tenancy

A cheap 18 or 24-month contract can cost more overall if the household leaves after 12 months. Include setup fees and scheduled price rises in the calculation.

Only buy a TV Licence if the household needs one

Live TV and BBC iPlayer require a licence. On-demand Netflix, Disney+ and similar services do not. Check your tenancy arrangement because one licence may not cover every separately rented room.

Use current MyVoucherCodes offers

Before ordering broadband or another paid service, check MyVoucherCodes for a live discount, bill credit or cashback offer. Confirm that the code works with the exact tariff you want and compare the final contract total after the promotion. Students can also check the latest student discounts before buying moving-in essentials.

Student bills moving-in checklist

1. Photograph every opening meter reading, including both registers on a dual-rate meter, and submit them to the supplier.
2. Find the current gas and electricity supplier, confirm the meter and tariff type, and open the new account from the tenancy start date.
3. Check the tenancy agreement for any utilities already included in the rent.
4. Tell the local council that the household is made up of students and complete its exemption process.
5. Order broadband early and make sure the minimum term suits the tenancy.
6. Get like-for-like package quotes and compare their full-tenancy totals with the DIY estimate.
7. Decide whose names will be on each account after checking the supplier's liability terms.
8. Set up standing orders or separate payments before the first bill arrives.
9. Check whether the household needs a TV Licence and whether one licence covers the tenancy.
10. Review the energy tariff when Ofgem publishes the next price-cap rates.

Sort those ten and the scariest thing left in the house should be the washing-up rota.

Methodology

Prices and pages were checked on 28 July 2026. Figures are rounded, so totals may differ by £1.

Our energy model uses Ofgem's 1 July to 30 September 2026 Direct Debit rates and revised 2026 consumption values. It assumes gas heating in England or Wales, then adds the Water UK 2026-27 average and £30 monthly broadband. It excludes a TV Licence unless stated.