A dispute between a Norwich tenant and letting agency Minors & Brady over a communal electricity bill has come to a head after members of the tenants’ union Acorn held a protest inside and outside the firm’s Unthank Road office.

Laura Cooper, who rents a flat on Clarendon Road, says she has been paying for her block’s communal lighting for nearly two years, claiming says she first reported a faulty hallway light, but despite two replacements, the issue persisted. It was only later that she discovered that the lighting on all floors and the fire alarm panel were connected to her electricity meter.

Cooper says that, although the agency has confirmed the wiring arrangement, the situation has left her feeling cheated, angry, and under significant stress.

Acorn Norwich took up her case and approached Minors & Brady seeking £900 in compensation, which Cooper says covers the excess electricity she believes she paid for, breach-of-contract damages, liability, and the time spent investigating the issue.

Insulting offer of just £100, plus a measly £5 rent reduction”.

According to Acorn, the agency replied with an “insulting offer of just £100, plus a measly £5 rent reduction”. In response, the activists held a protest at the Unthank Road office, where it alleges the staff were “quite aggressive”, which Minors & Brady deny. Pictures posted by the group show half a dozen activists in pink fluoro vests holding banners and quizzing staff.

Luke Savins, lettings partner at Minors & Brady, has told the Norwich Evening News, however, that the landlord had been unaware of the wiring arrangement until an electrician inspected the system. He said only three low-energy LED bulbs on a short timer and a small fire alarm panel were drawing power from the tenant’s supply.

He also added that the hallway switch at the site had been repeatedly damaged by an unknown occupant and had to be replaced three times to maintain lighting for residents.

He described the £900 compensation demand as “overly inflated and without calculation”, adding that even with “generous assumptions” actual use amounted to “roughly £30”.

Savins adds, however, that the lighting has since been upgraded with motion-sensors, the consumption assessed, and the tenant offered compensation above the true cost, along with a rent reduction.

Pic: Acorn