Sheltered housing resident hits out at gas tariff

A resident of a sheltered housing accommodation complex in the north of the Isle of Man has hit out at the "unfair" price of gas charged to the body that manages it.

Isle of Man Energy has confirmed it charges Ramsey and Northern Districts Housing Committee a commercial tariff as it was the customer, not those living at Mayfield Apartments.

Eric Corkish, who lives at the complex on Queen's Pier Road in Ramsey, said he felt he was being "ripped off" as he was paying more than domestic customers.

The housing committee said it was in discussions with the island's monopoly provider to try to agree a "more suitable tariff" for the residents.

It said the gas provider had deemed the "burn rate" of the communal boiler used at the site to be that of a commercial property.

The £5.8m housing complex, which built by the island's northern local authorities to meet the needs of older people, opened in 2021.

Mr Corkish, who pays £47.52 per week for the gas for his two-bedroom apartment, said the accommodation was "homes" and "not commercial units".

He said: "We’re not asking for cheap gas, we just want to pay the same as domestic customers.

"Its making the difference on what you can afford to spend your money on, people here do struggle with the money left in their pensions," he said.

Mr Corkish said people in nearby local authority houses were "charged much less for their gas in comparison, which is just not right".

"It's like they’re taking advantage of you, and all we want to do is pay a reasonable price for the heating in our apartments," he added.

In a statement, Isle of Man Energy said: "Our customer is the sheltered housing provider, rather than the individual residents."

"This means it is a commercial customer and is charged as such."

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