UniHomes vs Taupia

Q: What does UniHomes mean by uncapped energy?

UniHomes says: "UniHomes packages are uncapped; this policy exists simply to set expectations and help households avoid unnecessary waste." Uncapped for reasonable domestic use, in its own words, rather than unlimited for any purpose. The same policy publishes the gas and electricity it expects by bedroom count, says you are unlikely to hear from it below its high-use figures, and reserves the right to restrict service or end the contract in rare, extreme cases.

Checked 13 October 2026

UniHomes bundles a student house's bills into one package price per person. Taupia keeps every household bill visible, compares energy, broadband and mobile, and changes nothing until you approve.

Set up your home free

Free. Give your address for provider quotes in about two minutes, or upload a bill you already have. Then you pay each provider directly and Taupia splits and runs it, with nothing bundled.

Three housemates at a kitchen table going through a paper bill and a laptop together.

What you see: UniHomes
One package price per person per week
Taupia
Each provider, rate and contract, shown separately
Setting up: UniHomes
It arranges each utility, as agent or reseller
Taupia
Compare energy, broadband and mobile, then approve
After you move in: UniHomes
It manages the providers and collects the Charges
Taupia
Every bill, contract and change kept in one view

01How UniHomes works, and what Taupia does

What are you actually buying from UniHomes?

UniHomes lists student houses and sells a bills package for them: electricity, gas, water, broadband and a TV Licence for one price per person per week, collected by Direct Debit. Taupia sits between that and a comparison site, which prices one bill and hands the result back. Taupia is free and compares energy, broadband and mobile, with two ways in: give it your address and provider quotes come back in about two minutes, or upload the bills you have and AI agents read the tariff, usage, contract end date and any exit fee.

Either way you see the full list of what providers are offering. Taupia recommends one from it and shows why it picked that one, having asked a few questions first so the recommendation fits how the house actually lives. The list stays there to check the pick against, and nothing changes until you approve it.

Each bill then splits across the house on percentages totalling 100%, worked out from the real amount. Taupia flags renewal dates and reads TaupiaMail, a Taupia email address you give your providers or forward messages to, where AI agents pull out price changes and contract end dates. Water, council tax and TV Licence stay in view, though Taupia does not compare or switch them.

Cross-check All eight packages, and what each one publishes

Who pays whom

Your money reaches the suppliers through UniHomes, so whatever it keeps is inside the single figure it quotes. Nothing reaches Taupia from your side. You pay each supplier its own published rate, Taupia splits that across the house and chases the shares, and a provider pays Taupia commission when a switch completes.

02Supplier account setup

Taupia splits every bill automatically, and never moves the money.

A package divides the house for you and quotes one figure for it. Going direct keeps Taupia out of the supplier contract, so the division stays with the household. Here is what Taupia does with that, and where it stops.

Every bill split automatically

Splitwise style, and not forced into an equal share. Each housemate holds a percentage of a bill, the percentages total 100%, and each share is worked out from the real bill amount, so it updates when the bill does.

Taupia does the chasing

So nobody in the house has to be the one who asks. Taupia allocates account-setup tasks, tracks completion, records and flags outstanding shares, and sends reminders while a share is outstanding. Everyone sees the same shares and who has settled. It does not move money: the housemates repay the person the bill is in the name of directly, outside Taupia, and the share reads as settled once it has been repaid.

One housemate is the person the supplier bills

A utility account is usually opened in one person's name. That one named account holder is who the supplier bills, and the obligation to the supplier stays theirs whoever in the house has paid their share. Taupia can send a request to add further people to the account, but the supplier decides. If a share is late, Taupia flags it and sends reminders. It never moves money between housemates, and nothing it records changes what the named holder owes the supplier.

03UniHomes vs Taupia: pricing, liability and exit terms

What is actually different?

Start with the everyday question: what can you see before you choose, and who stays in control when a bill changes? Open any row for the provider's exact words.

UniHomes vs Taupia: pricing, liability and exit terms
The question that matters	UniHomes	Taupia
What the monthly price shows	UniHomes One weekly price per person. Supplier costs and UniHomes' fee stay combined. Their exact words UniHomes sets a price per person per week in your Order. Clause 12.8 says the Charges include a service fee for its management service as well as what it pays the providers, and that its fee is any difference between the two, plus any commission the providers pay it. The terms do not size that fee. Source landing.unihomes.co.uk Checked 13 October 2026	Taupia The full list, one recommendation and its reasons, then every bill organised. In Taupia's words Taupia compares available energy, broadband and mobile rates before you choose. You see the full list of what providers are offering, then the one Taupia recommends and the reasons it picked that one, after a few questions about how the house lives. Taupia is free, and keeps every household bill organised in one home view. More on this Why Taupia is free
If someone misses a payment	UniHomes Together and each individually liable. A missed share can raise the others' payments. Their exact words Clause 12.6 makes you together and each individually responsible for all the Charges, and lets UniHomes require them from any one of you. Under clause 12.7, if a housemate has not paid seven days after a reminder, UniHomes may tell the others that their next payment may rise to cover it. A missed Direct Debit of £30 or more can add £12 for each person who has not paid. Source landing.unihomes.co.uk Checked 13 October 2026	Taupia Percentage shares totalling 100%. Taupia tracks, but never collects. In Taupia's words Each housemate holds a percentage of the bill and the percentages total 100%. Supplier accounts default to one named account holder. Taupia can send a request to add further people, but the supplier decides whether to add them. Taupia records and flags outstanding shares, sends reminders and does not move money. It does not change the named holder's supplier obligation. More on this How Taupia works
What is organised	UniHomes Energy and TV Licence as your agent; water and broadband as a reseller. Their exact words UniHomes arranges electricity, gas and the TV Licence as your agent, with those contracts in your name, and water and broadband as a reseller. It manages the accounts and pays the providers out of the Charges it collects. Source landing.unihomes.co.uk Checked 13 October 2026	Taupia Compare energy, broadband and mobile; organise water, council tax and TV Licence. In Taupia's words Taupia compares available energy, broadband and mobile rates, so you can see the provider and price before choosing. Water, council tax and TV Licence sit in the same home view with contracts, tasks and changes, organised rather than market-compared. More on this Suppliers Taupia supports
If the house moves or changes	UniHomes Leaving early: £25 to £30 per utility, per tenant. Their exact words The contract expires on the end date in your Order. Leaving early costs £25 per utility per tenant a month or more before the start date, or £30 per utility per tenant after that, plus the rest of the broadband term where broadband is installed or due within 48 hours. If someone leaves mid-term, UniHomes may re-apportion their Charges across the rest of you or charge them cancellation fees. Source landing.unihomes.co.uk Checked 13 October 2026	Taupia No Taupia exit fee. Supplier and broadband exit charges can still apply. In Taupia's words There is no Taupia package contract to unwind. Supplier exit fees and any mid-contract broadband charges can still apply, so Taupia flags key contract dates and the changes it reads, and the household can decide in time.
If a room is empty	UniHomes An empty bedroom can raise everyone's Charges, or end the contract. Their exact words Clause 12.11 lets UniHomes raise the Charges in proportion when more people live in the house than signed the Order, or when it has more bedrooms than signers, with the extra split across those who signed. It may instead cancel the contract and apply cancellation fees. Source landing.unihomes.co.uk Checked 13 October 2026	Taupia The house edits its own percentages when a room empties or fills. In Taupia's words Each share is a percentage the house sets and edits itself. When a room empties or fills, the house changes the percentages, and every share is worked out again from the real bill amount. More on this Bills for an empty student house

04UniHomes ownership, funding and disclosures

What does UniHomes publish, and what does it not?

Who pays whom
You pay UniHomes the Charges by Direct Debit on the first working day of each month, and it settles what you owe the providers out of them. Clause 12.8 makes its service fee any difference between what it collects and what it pays the providers, plus any commission they pay it. The contract names the fee and never sizes it.
Source landing.unihomes.co.uk Checked 13 October 2026
Uncapped energy
Its Responsible Energy Use Policy calls UniHomes energy uncapped for reasonable domestic use in a student or sharer household, says households will not get an over-usage bill, and publishes the gas and electricity it expects by number of bedrooms. In rare, extreme cases it judges deliberately wasteful, unsafe, unlawful or clearly non-domestic, it reserves the right to restrict service or end the contract.
Source cdn-p0.unihomes.co.uk Checked 13 October 2026
What one Reading house paid direct
Reading Students' Union priced nine unlimited packages in March 2025 for one four-bedroom, four-occupant Reading house covering energy, water and broadband. Reading notes that guidance from Ofgem, the energy regulator, would treat a four-bedroom property as high usage, and on that band the house paid about £281 a month direct against the £408 the packages averaged: a premium of about £127 a month. Reading also ran a medium band, because students are away for long stretches, and there the direct figure is £223. Which one applies depends on how lived-in the house is. It is useful context for a UniHomes quote, not a price for every household.
Source reading.ac.uk Checked 13 October 2026

4 more from UniHomes's own site, each with its source

Ending the contract The contract expires on the end date in your Order, and UniHomes says matching the start and end dates to your tenancy is your responsibility. To end it sooner you contact UniHomes, and the contract ends 30 days later, with an early termination fee charged to each of you.
Source landing.unihomes.co.uk Checked 13 October 2026
Coverage Electricity, gas, water, broadband and a TV Licence: the five utilities its household terms define.
Source landing.unihomes.co.uk Checked 13 October 2026
Who UniHomes is UniHomes and Bills Limited, registered in England and Wales, company number 09618272, at 6th Floor, 1 New Era Square, Sheffield. Its household terms name Student Trading Limited, company number 13757347, among its affiliates.
Source landing.unihomes.co.uk Checked 13 October 2026
Bought Split The Bills in 2021 FinTech Futures reported on 5 January 2021 that UniHomes had acquired Split The Bills, the Sheffield company that splits student household bills, and that Split The Bills' founder would remain a minority shareholder.
Source FinTech Futures, 5 January 2021

05UniHomes's own claim, checked

What does UniHomes mean by uncapped energy?

Claim check

UniHomes says

“UniHomes packages are uncapped; this policy exists simply to set expectations and help households avoid unnecessary waste.”

What else it publishes

Uncapped for reasonable domestic use, in its own words, rather than unlimited for any purpose. The same policy publishes the gas and electricity it expects by bedroom count, says you are unlikely to hear from it below its high-use figures, and reserves the right to restrict service or end the contract in rare, extreme cases.

Source cdn-p0.unihomes.co.uk Checked 13 October 2026

06Taupia on the UniHomes package price

Why can uncapped energy cost more than the energy a house uses?

Taupia's argument, not something UniHomes publishes. Every clause it turns on is one UniHomes wrote, and this page cites that document above.

Your name goes on the energy contracts. UniHomes says so in its own terms: clause 6.6.1 has you authorise it, as your agent, to contract with the Principal Providers in your name, and clause 6.2 states that where it acts as your agent the contracts for the utilities are between you and each provider. You are the supplier's customer, and whatever rules apply to that tariff apply to it.

What you never do is pay that tariff. You pay the Charges, and clause 12.8 defines UniHomes' service fee as any difference between what it collects from you and what it has to pay those providers, plus any commission they pay it. The contract names the fee and never sizes it. No regulator caps the Charges. It is legal.

Clause 12.9 is where the pricing comes from. Where the providers are owed more than your Charges, you are not liable for the difference unless the terms let UniHomes raise your Charges: otherwise it carries it. Whoever carries that risk prices for the bad case, because a cold January has to be covered by every month's payment. A house with ordinary usage pays for cover it never uses.

07Who UniHomes suits, and who Taupia suits

When is UniHomes the better answer?

Choose UniHomes if

You found the house through UniHomes and want one company for both: it lists student houses and sells the bills package for them.
You want energy without an over-usage bill: UniHomes' policy calls its energy uncapped for reasonable domestic use and says households will not receive one.
You want UniHomes arranging every contract and paying the providers, with only it to deal with. Taupia carries out the energy, broadband and mobile switches you approve, but it does not act as your agent across every household contract.

Choose Taupia if

You want to know what the service costs. UniHomes' terms make its fee the gap between what it collects and what it pays the providers, so a quote cannot be separated into supply and service.
The house wants to hold the division itself: each member gets a percentage that totals 100%, and the house edits it when a room empties or fills, rather than a provider re-apportioning the Charges or raising them for an empty bedroom.
You want home admin to stay understandable after setup: Taupia tracks bills, contracts, changes and tasks, while the house sees the suppliers and bills behind each share rather than one weekly price.

08Taupia's own limitations

What do you give up by choosing Taupia?

Taupia does not bundle your payment. It helps you set up directly with each provider, then splits and manages it all with the prices in view, which is why it costs you nothing. Here is what that route does not give you.

Taupia does not bundle your bills into one fixed monthly amount. You pay each provider its own published rate, so a heavy month costs more and a quiet one costs less. It only compares energy, broadband and mobile, and does not compare or switch water, insurance, credit, savings or mortgages.
A provider pays Taupia commission when a switch completes. On energy and gas the rate is the same whichever supplier you pick, so an energy recommendation does not pay Taupia more one way or the other. Broadband and mobile rates vary a little. The full list it recommends from is the suppliers Taupia supports, published on its supported suppliers page.

How Taupia works

09UniHomes questions answered

What else should you check before signing?

Who is the supply contract actually with?

It splits by service. For electricity, gas and the TV Licence, UniHomes acts as your agent and the supply contract is in your name, directly with the provider it arranges. For water and broadband it acts as a reseller. Either way UniHomes manages the accounts, pays the providers out of the Charges you pay it, and liaises with the providers for you.

Is UniHomes the same company as Split The Bills?

They are linked. FinTech Futures reported on 5 January 2021 that UniHomes had acquired Split The Bills, with Split The Bills' founder remaining a minority shareholder. Each package has its own contract, so read the one you sign: UniHomes' household terms name UniHomes and Bills Limited, company number 09618272, and clause 12.6 makes you together and each individually responsible for all the Charges.

What does leaving a UniHomes contract early cost?

It is charged per person, not per house. Cancel a month or more before the start date and it is £25 per utility per tenant, £125 each on UniHomes' own five-utility example. Closer to the start, or after it, it is £30 per utility per tenant, £150 each, plus the remaining broadband charges if broadband is installed or due within 48 hours.

Can UniHomes charge more if a room is empty?

Yes, under clause 12.11. If more people live in the house than signed the Order, or it has more bedrooms than signers, UniHomes may raise the Charges in proportion and split the extra across those who signed, or cancel the contract and apply cancellation fees. Clause 12.6 also asks you to tell it when anyone moves in or out.

10Deciding between UniHomes and Taupia

So what should you do next?

UniHomes keeps the house search and the bills with one company. Weigh that against a service fee its terms never size and Charges every tenant answers for, then price the same services direct.

Set up your home free

Free. Give your address for provider quotes in about two minutes, or upload a bill you already have. Then you pay each provider directly and Taupia splits and runs it, with nothing bundled.

GET STARTED

Ready to sort your home admin?
Start in minutes.

Add your bills or start from your new address. Taupia helps you get organised, see what you pay and act when there is something worth reviewing.

Taupia is free to use. Add your first bill, or start from your new address, in minutes.

Available on iOS and Android.

Taupia is free to use
Takes minutes to begin
Bills in one place
You approve what happens