Setting up utilities in a Czech rental: who pays, who signs, what to read

On the day you get the keys to a Czech flat, the landlord is usually in a hurry and you are looking at the view. The one thing worth doing before either of you leaves is to read the meters. The numbers you write down that afternoon decide who pays for what, and they are the only evidence you will have if a bill is later disputed.

Utilities in Czech rentals fall into two groups. Some come bundled into your monthly payment to the landlord. Others need a contract in your own name. Knowing which is which before you sign the lease is the main task.

What is in the rent and what is not

A Czech rental advert usually quotes the rent and a separate amount for services (služby), often written as two numbers added together. The services amount is a monthly advance that covers things shared at building level. Typical items are heating, hot water, cold water and sewage, the lift, cleaning of common areas, building electricity and sometimes waste collection. Which items are included is for the contract to say.

Once a year, the landlord or the owners' association prepares a settlement (vyúčtování) comparing the advances you paid with the actual costs. If you overpaid you get money back, and if you underpaid you owe the difference. The law on services connected with the use of flats (Act No. 67/2013 Coll.) sets out how this works, including a deadline for the settlement after the end of the accounting period and a period for paying any balance. Check the current text before relying on exact dates. If you move out partway through the year, ask how your share will be calculated.

Electricity for the flat itself and gas for cooking or heating are more often a separate contract. In many flats you sign these yourself. In some buildings, the landlord holds the energy contract and passes the cost on. Ask which, and write the answer in the lease.

Day one: meters and handover

At handover, the owner and the tenant normally sign a handover protocol (předávací protokol), which lists the condition of the flat and the meter readings. Take photographs of each meter, with a recognisable part of the flat in frame and the date visible on your phone. Do the same for the electricity meter, the gas meter, the cold and hot water meters and any heat meters on radiators.

Write down the meter's identification number as well. For electricity and gas, each connection has a unique code. The electricity point has an EAN number, the gas point an EIC code, and your supplier will ask for it when you sign up. It also appears on the previous tenant's bill, which the landlord may hold.

Electricity and gas

Czech energy supply is split into two parts. Distribution, the wires and pipes, is a regulated monopoly run by regional distributors, and you cannot choose it. Which distributor serves you depends on your address: Prague, for example, is served by a different company from most of Bohemia. The supply, the energy itself, is a competitive market, and you can choose among suppliers. The result is that the price per unit differs between suppliers, while the distribution charge is set under regulation.

When you move in, you normally take over the existing connection. You either sign a contract with the supplier already serving the address or choose another one. The Energy Regulatory Office (Energetický regulační úřad, ERÚ) publishes guidance for consumers and a comparison tool, and it is a good place to start. Compare the total price including regulated charges, the term of the contract and what happens at the end of a fixed period. Offers with a low introductory price that jumps afterwards are a familiar pattern.

Pay attention to the monthly advance. The supplier sets an advance payment based on expected consumption, and the annual statement reconciles it. If you are the first tenant to use a flat in the cold season, the supplier's estimate can be too low, which means a bill at the end. Ask the landlord for the previous year's consumption to judge it.

If you leave, you must end your supply on the day you move out, with a final reading, or a new tenant's supply will otherwise start under the old contract. Tell the supplier your new address for the final bill.

Water and heating

In an apartment block, water and heating are typically supplied through the building. Water meters in each flat record consumption, and the building's water company bills the owner or the association, which then bills tenants. District heating, where it exists, comes from a central plant and is allocated using meters or allocation devices on radiators. The numbers on those devices are not kilowatt-hours, so you cannot convert them yourself. Ask for the building's method of allocation.

If you rent a flat with its own gas boiler, the boiler is yours to look after in a practical sense. Ask who is responsible for its yearly check, and when it was last done.

Internet, TV and the small print

Internet is nearly always your own contract. Check which providers reach the building: fibre, cable and radio links are all sold, and what is available depends on the street. Ask the landlord whether the building has restrictions on installing cables, and whether a provider is already connected. Installation can take days or weeks, so ask before you move in. Contracts commonly run for a fixed term, so check the commitment and the price after any introductory period. For mobile contracts, see how to buy a SIM card in Czechia.

Public service television and radio have a licence fee payable by households with receivers (as of 2026; check the broadcasters), and municipal fees for waste may apply to residents. See Czech waste sorting and recycling explained for how that works.

Costs and the wider picture

Utilities are a significant part of monthly housing costs, and comparing rents without them is misleading. A flat with a lower rent but expensive heating may cost more than a flat with a higher rent in a better-insulated building. If you are weighing renting against buying, an online tool such as the buy or rent calculator on Hypoteky.com lets you compare the long-run costs of each. If you are looking at new-build flats to rent, the listing of new-build flats to rent on Novostavby.com (in Czech) shows what is on offer, and the energy class of a building is one of the things that shapes the heating bill (see Czech building energy classes A to G). For the lease side of the move, read how to rent a flat in Czechia as a foreigner.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to keep the landlord's electricity supplier?

Where the contract is in your name, you can choose a supplier. Where the landlord holds the contract and passes costs on, the lease decides. Ask which applies.

What is a settlement and when does it come?

It is the yearly comparison of your advance payments with actual costs for services such as heating and water. The landlord or association prepares it after the accounting period ends.

What is the EAN number?

It is the unique code of an electricity supply point. The supplier needs it to start your contract. Gas connections have a similar code.

Can I be charged for the previous tenant's bills?

Not if the readings at handover are recorded correctly. This is why photographs and a signed protocol matter.

Before you sign the lease, ask for the list of what the services payment covers and write down who holds the electricity contract. Everything else follows from those two answers.

This is a general explainer, not legal or tax advice.