Charging for water usage

Is the rental price slightly lower than comparable places? Have you had trouble getting tenants because they have to pay for water? Did you have to pay to have the meters installed? Thanks.

I still don't understand why the owner has to pay 100% of water that the tenant uses. It a scam and makes no sense at all.

 

No for all questions.

Whether or not you charge water doesn’t usually affect the rental price and in the case of a unit the amount is so small that it’s essentiallt negligible. I think I get around $30 a quarter back. The tenant has been there for a few years and it made no difference at the time.

 

Property location: Queensland.

Townhouse (no gardens) recently individually metered and the 1st bill since has given be a shock. 110 KL for 1 quarter! I think I'm looking at a $700 bill

I take it that I can't pass the water usage component on to the tenant unless it's in the contract?

Going forward, how can I ensure that a new tenant pays the usage part of the bill?

Thanks

 

Water charging fact sheet | Residential Tenancies Authority

 

Best practice would be to get a WELS Certificate from a Plumber. Note that the certificate is not the requirement itself, rather the requirement is that the property is compliant with the standard to which the certificate states it complies- THIS means that the certificate can be used to 'backwards comply' a property IF it is found to be compliant when carried out. Obviously this isn't the case if changes need to be made.

Most leases these days will state that full water consumption can be charged IF the property is individually metered and WELS compliant, which means you should be able to charge water mid-term without having to wait for a new lease. You will of course need to check first though.

Note that if either of the above reasons stop you from immediately charging full water consumption, you can still charge excess for a bill that large. An average family of four would use approximately 40kL of water, which means you can still charge about 70kL back.

 

Wow. Even after washing 3 cars, watering some trees and general living we used 16kL last QTR. How does one use 100+! I'd be checking your hot water system for a leak if the power bill is also out of control.

 

I would think usage is lower in the SE corner compered to elsewhere in the state but for fun comparison of the three regional QLD properties I hold water usage is average 1-1.5kl per day per household, one council is per kl charge and another is charge or allowance (770kl/yr) choice, so 100kl/QTR inst uncommon in some areas but again high for the SE

 

You can bill them manually

 

Thanks. I will get this WELS certificate.
I think knowing that I can never be charged more than the fixed charges will give me some peace of mind

 

As long as it's individually metered (they're not using some of the water for the development are they?) then you can manually charge based on your own readings.

The time limit is from the time your are billed, but in this case you're asking in advance, and it's perfectly reasonable to do so. We have to take a manual reading every time a tenant vacates because the rates for the period in question comes in up to six months after they've vacated.