Bills in student houses at uni?

Myself and 4 others have found a 5 bed house to rent for 2nd year. Its 420 a month each, and we can chose whether to include bills or not. With bills inclusive it will be 475 per month. I'm not sure what the average price of bills usually are, so if anyone could advise on whether going bills inclusive or not is a better option would be great.
Thanks

Myself and 4 others have found a 5 bed house to rent for 2nd year. Its 420 a month each, and we can chose whether to include bills or not. With bills inclusive it will be 475 per month. I'm not sure what the average price of bills usually are, so if anyone could advise on whether going bills inclusive or not is a better option would be great.
Thanks

Hi there araaaaa234, whatever you do please AVOID bill splitting intermediaries like Glide and Split The Bill.

Having used Glide for a couple of years while I was at uni, it's absolutely fine and really saves on the hassle and risk of paying the bills yourself. While they take their own cut it's still pretty small, and unless you're running a weed farm it's likely that you'll get a good 1.5-2 months worth of payments refunded at the end. It's also a more regular payment that you can rely on and plan for, whereas your bills will vary otherwise and you will likely find yourself with a big bill after winter.

It might be advantageous to pay your own bills if you've already lived together for a couple of years and are an organised bunch, but otherwise you're probably not saving enough to make the disadvantages worth it.

Having used Glide for a couple of years while I was at uni, it's absolutely fine and really saves on the hassle and risk of paying the bills yourself. While they take their own cut it's still pretty small, and unless you're running a weed farm it's likely that you'll get a good 1.5-2 months worth of payments refunded at the end. It's also a more regular payment that you can rely on and plan for, whereas your bills will vary otherwise and you will likely find yourself with a big bill after winter.

It might be advantageous to pay your own bills if you've already lived together for a couple of years and are an organised bunch, but otherwise you're probably not saving enough to make the disadvantages worth it.

Unfortunately, a lot of students fail to pick up on the fact that 'convenience' comes at a very steep price.
Thanks to a lack of pricing transparency, many students have found themselves locked into a 9 or 12 month fixed term contract before they realise just how expensive "white label" suppliers like Glide and Split the Bills are.
I have done a full costing of Glide versus the open market for gas and electricity for a 4-person student house in Bath.
The difference in cost is absolutely astonishing - over a 12-month contract term, with Glide you will be overpaying by more than £1,000 compared with the best dual fuel fixed deal that's currently available on the open market. To see my calculations go to Trustpilot, search for Glide then look for 'Peter O' (BTW my review was posted on 01 February 2019).