A man whose communal heating and hot water bill has soared from £500 a year to more than £2,000 says he wants to be charged only for what he uses.

Matt - who did not want his surname published - is a leaseholder on Camden Council's Whittington Estate where heating and hot water are paid for on a flat rate.

The estate is earmarked to move to individual meter-based charges in early 2024 under government legislation from 2020 - but Matt wants individual metering brought in immediately.

Camden Council has been installing and activating heat meters on the estate and Matt, who has lived on the Whittington for 20 years, claims that despite having had his meter activated in early summer, he is still being charged a flat rate.

He said: “It seems to be a bizarre delay, especially considering everybody knew that high energy prices were coming."

Comparing his soaring bills to hyperinflation in Germany in the 1920s, he added: “I’m a single occupant here and I don’t use much energy. I think it’s really unfair to be charged Weimar Republic inflation rates because it’s calculated on an average.”

Camden Council said installing heat meters on the estate is “a big project”, but that work is almost complete.

The Camden leaseholders' forum in May heard that a significant majority of meters in a heat network have to be activated before individuals can be charged for their own consumption.

Matt said: “It's a legal obligation for the council to meter heating and hot water.

“I find...[the delay] very stressful because it’s like flushing money down the toilet.

“The timetable has become very amorphous and the communication very poor.”

A spokesperson for the authority said: “We are committed to installing heat meters wherever possible to give residents greater control over their bills.

“So far, we have installed around 3,000 heat meters in residents’ homes.

“We have also developed a programme of retrofit works to make all our homes more energy efficient and have a number of pilot projects on site. This is all part of the council’s Climate Action Plan.”