That’s definitely a bit much. We have been proposed 1000 EUR (big house with 4 cats in Italy in winter), 400 EUR (small flat with dog in Berlin) and 50 EUR + the option to rent the owner’s car (small flat in Greece in winter, one cat which needed intensive care). We have lived in all of these countries and paid regular rent and it all appeared a bit excessive (except for the sit in Greece). On Facebook we have also occasionally seen people asking for the full rent -10/20% (Iceland and Switzerland), but there was usually backlash.
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1000 Euro for just the utilities? Wow.
My theory is, if there are pets to be watched, the owner would have to keep utilities on anyway. If it’s a longer sit (over a month) I would consider paying internet costs. But I feel that there needs to be a certain level of trust between owners and sitters, and that includes that sitters not abuse the electric/gas/water usage. If an owner has concerns about a sitter doing that, maybe they should go with a different sitter?
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Just read most posts about this subject. It reminds me of my early start of petsitting, very enthousiastic and still naïve…
Early 2015 we had our first petsit and today we have done more than 60. Never payed anything for/during a sit, but than we don’t do sits for more than 3 weeks.
Januari 2015 I saw a listing in Ireland, beautiful mouthwatering scenery, with 2 Border Collies. So you know in advance there will be a lot of walkies and ball throwing and that would be great to do in that area. So I applied for our first sit abroad, in Ireland, we live in the Netherlands. Not having calculated the costs of transport (fuel for car, twice a ferry return, hotels), being very enthousiastic!
The HO replied and summed up all kind of expenses for us to pay. (Perhaps he did not like us to come 
)
- Deposit 300 euro’s, at end of stay payed back with dedeuction of
- internet use of wi-fi dongle 30 euro p. month (it was a 2 week stay, so 15)
- electricity, the meter was read
- removal charges of waste 5,50 per bag
- heating oil …level of oil in tank marked and refill at end of stay, paying for the difference
- wood, coal and turf could be bought from HO
Well, I was quite chocked and unpleasantly surprised (understatement…)
Considering our cost of travel as well this was a No Deal. I made up an excuse that a family member had turned severely ill and we should not arrive because of that. Message was read, but no comment or well wishes. Point! (Today I would have less problems showing my dissatisfaction, but one learns
Now this was in 2015, imagine what he would ask for now! I cannot find the original listing, but I am sure when these costs were mentioned I would not have applied. Yet I read many satisfied sitters who give 5 stars and don’t mention any costs.
Maybe I am too fussy???
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Wow, just wow! I wonder if he ever got someone to take that sit?
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No certainly not too fussy. As i would have gotten back to the HO with a specified list of the costs that I would already be making and the costs he would be saving for 24 hr securityy- 24hr hour paid pet care lodging in a cattery or kennel. Heating would i know beforehand would be virtually 0 as i know the value of woolly jumpers and slippers. Actually had to do this on a sit in the UK were the HO had automatically turned off the heating as matter of habit when they left and i couldn’t be bothered after trying to get it back on again. So jumper and slippers from charity shop ( cats protection society 
and i was nice and toasty .
But if a HO were to be difficult I could easily produce a list of costs that it would otherwise cost for looking after home and pets. etc
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Yes, I read several 5 star reviews on him, maybe he has changed policies at last
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Definitely
not too fussy, you did well to get out of that ane!
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I would never pay towards utility bills. Our own home is compact and well insulated so always warm and relatively inexpensive to heat. Whilst away housesitting, I still need to pay a certain amount towards my own utility bills. I have sat in large, detached and very draughty houses which therefore incur huge bills that the owner is used to paying. I have never been asked to pay and obviously am sensible with my usage.
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I have zero tolerance in this area. A sitter’s comfort should be really important to a host. If it’s not, or when communication starts off with someone detailing a breakdown of expected expenses, it’s a massive red flag and, to my mind, demonstrates an unpleasant attempt to dominate the relationship.
As a host, I wouldn’t dream of asking sitters to contribute to utility costs, and as a sitter, should anyone raise the subject of money with me, they’ll get a straight ‘no’ – no further negotiation.
I will look after your pet, you will give me regular home comforts – it’s a very simple, very straightforward exchange. Our individual bills, travel expenses (delete as applicable), and personal finances are our own, private matters.
EDIT: For clarification, I don’t do longterm sits.
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Successful sit arrangements are all about communication and personal decisions, each is different, members needs and expectations are different but the most important thing is that everyone has a successful experience, especially the pets and if there is a listing that doesn’t appeal for one reason or another … pass by to the one that does.
I posted my experience earlier in this thread …
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When all is agreed, all are happy. 
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This is madness! I hope he realizes that the alternative to having an unpaid sitter is paying someone to do the job? I very much doubt anyone would pay him for the privilege!
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Thanks @Angela_L for the reminder that there might be a way for sitters to feel they’ve gotten a fair exchange even when they’ve agreed to contribute to the utilities. I’m glad that situation worked out for both you and the pet parent/owner.
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@Angela_L Totally agree. We hav e a similar situation - we are doing a 3 month+ sit in London from December to March and offered to contribute to utilities. Given we will have no housing costs of our own (our property is let out) the run of a large well located house and a very easy dog to care for that seemed to us more than enough of an exchange. We certainly wouldn’t expect to pay for shorter sits or summer sits but to us given the cost of energy at the moment it felt like the right thing to do. The owners were very grateful and insisted they would split the costs with us so a very fair deal in our eyes.
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Like you I’d rather pay the cost so I am comfortable (heating as well as air conditioning) than be miserable for three months.
We all have our comfort zone and as a woman “of a certain age” heating is not a problem at the moment.
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Maybe for dog owners, and if they are putting them in kennels? I think it depends on the pet; I get charged £10 a day for someone to come in and feed my cats twice a day - hardly a fortune.
@Wavingfish Sounds like you have a good deal. I’m going mostly by what our homeowners and pet parents tell us when we are on house sits providing in-home care. We have until recently looked after multiple pets, and I’ve been quite shocked by the alternative boarding prices they report. Here in France it seems high too.
I think the point I was trying to make (maybe not very well ) was that there might be a correlation between fuel prices increasing and businesses increasing their boarding prices too.
It’s likely that pet boarding will also increase in price, given rising inflation, so having in-home sitters is still likely to represent a considerable saving.
Out of interest, how do you decide when to use in-home care and when to use drop in visits?
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That’s a very good deal for two visits a day. In Dallas, I pay $15 for one visit per day to feed my cat. That’s still inexpensive compared to other paid services here.
To answer @Vanessa_A question - I used a paid sitter for very short trips (2-5 days) if my nearby friend can’t check the cat. The work involved in choosing a THS sitter isn’t worth it for a really short trip. I spend a lot of time cleaning the house before a THS sitter stays, and now the hassle of the 5-app limit, mean using THS isn’t worth the savings for a few days. I definitely would use a sitter for a one night trip - my cat can manage on his own for that time.
I would decline a sit if the HomeOwner asked me to pay for utilities during the sit. The Utilities are keeping their pets warm and comfortable … as well as me, their care giver. If the HomeOwner doesn’t see the value in covering utilities to cover me AND their pets… then they don’t value the exchange of services for accommodation/pet care.
That being said, I would still try to be my historic “frugal self” during the sit and make sure not to run up energy costs if it can be helped. I was raised to wear sweaters and sit under a cozy blanket while watching TV etc… I try to conserve energy just like I do in my own home.
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When I was in grad school I did several sabbatical sits - this allowed me to bring my Irish Wolfhound and cat with me to a place where rentals were unlikely to accept pets. The two longest - 4 months and a full year, I did pay the utilities. But I didn’t pay any rent; I did take care of the resident dog and cat along with my own. One sabbatical sit, the HO was kind enough to pay the utilities for me.
Were I doing a long (2+ month) sit in an especially pleasant location I might be willing to share the cost of utilities.
But similarly, if in a place where I’d have to depend on a car for transport, might expect the HO to share in the cost of the rental car as well.