New legislation took effect on Tuesday the 1st of April that will allow property owners to charge tenants for all water usage. Lessors will be able to pass on the full costs for water usage under specific conditions. Whilst lessors have always had the ability to charge for water usage above a reasonable amount, the new rules allow for all water usage costs to be passed on to the tenants under the following terms –
The premises allow for individual water metering.
The agreement provides the tenant must pay for the water.
The premises are water efficient.
Water efficiency in a property needs to include compliancy for the water efficiency level set out in the regulation. Thus toilets, internal cold water taps and showerheads must have a three star rating or higher under the water efficiency and labeling standards scheme. (Or be of an equivalent performance) The costs of any installations/changes required for compliancy are to be carried by the landlord.
When these conditions have been met the costs of the water usage can be passed on to the tenants.
It is worth keeping in mind fixed costs cannot be passed on, so whilst most houses are individually metered, many apartments and townhouses are not. It may be worth looking into the investment of installing individual water meters where they are not already in place, in accordance with the local council conditions.
These agreements will come into effect varying on when the tenancy agreement was undertaken, if they were made prior to April 1st they will take effect at the renewal of the lease agreement. Periodic agreements and new agreements will be able to pass on the costs immediately.
The relevant adjustments amongst our property management teams are taking place, and we are putting systems into place to manage these from the outset.
If you have any questions regarding the changes don’t hesitate to call one of our property managers in our Noosa Heads, Coolum, or Gympie offices.
Till next week,
Olivier