Captain Obvious says, ‘We are sick and tired of paying for our tenants’ water’
It pretty much goes without saying that Auckland landlords are not the biggest fan of WaterCare at the moment. Instead of billing property occupiers/tenants/end users direct for water use, the baffling logic of WaterCare elects to bill property owners instead.
Unfortunately in the case of residential tenancy, it means that
Landlords get billed for Tenants’ Water Use.
We have particular difficulty in reconciling this billing practice with logic. If telephone and power companies are able to bill end users/tenants direct, then why involve the landlord when it comes to water? The argument that part of the water bill relates to infrastructure costs to be borne by the owner can only carry WaterCare so far. Surely landlords own the pipes just as much as the power and telephone cables?
WaterCare’s solution to landlords?
Pass on the water charges to your tenants
Easier said than done. We have stayed mum on this matter for a while because we want to make absolutely sure that our members are being given the right information. After consulting with lawyers, the Department of Building and Housing, Office of Rex Maidment, Principal Tenancy Adjudicator, we are finally able to find out what can and cannot be passed on to tenants.
For metered water premises, the test is two-fold
- Are there separate meters for each tenancy? A separate meter is the only way for you to work out what water can be attributed to the tenant’s occupancy of the premises. If there is no separate meter for each tenancy then you simply cannot pass anything on to the tenants. A typical...
