Can I charge my tenant water usage?

You can pass on water usage charges to your tenant provided all the minimum criteria have been met.

Minimum criteria

The minimum criteria for passing on water usage charges are:

- The rental premises must be individually metered (or water is delivered by vehicle)

- The charges must not exceed the amount billed for water usage by the water supplier

- The rental premises must meet required ‘water efficiency’ standards.

Water efficiency Standards

A rental property is only considered water efficient if it meets these standards:

Internal cold-water taps and single mixer taps for kitchen sinks and bathroom hand basins - Maximum flow rate of nine litres per minute

Showerheads- Maximum flow rate of nine litres per minute

No leaking taps- No leaking taps anywhere on the premises at the start of the tenancy or when the other water efficiency measures are installed

Time to pay

When it is time to pay the water bill, the landlord or agent will provide you with a copy of the bill or evidence of how the usage was calculated, within three months. You have 21 days to pay the amount owing.

Transcription

- Hi, I'm Casey from century 21. I just thought of making this quick video to help you understand what is water usage. How we charge the tenant and how it's repaid back to you as the landlord. To charge the tenant water usage the property has to be separately made it. The charges must not exceed the amount charged by Hunter water and the property has to meet the minimum standards of water efficiency. What are the minimum standards of water efficiency? All taps must have a maximum flow rate of nine liters per minute. There must be no leaking taps at the property. Once we see, we have received your account from Hunter water, we will into your account for payment. At the same time as entering that account for payment we will charge the tenant, their proportion of the water usage, notional that water account. The tenant does have 21 days to pay this account. When sending the tenant, a copy of their invoice for the Hunter water account we will send them through a copy of the water account from Hunter water as well. To recoup this amount, this usually will show on your following month statement. So the first month it'll show the amount paid to Hunter water. Which is the full amount of the account and the following month we'll show the tenants contribution being repaid back to you as the landlord. If you have any further questions don't hesitate to give me or your property vendor a call here in the office on 49287400.