Fair usage - bills

[Pins]

Hi all,

I rent out a furnished small 1 bedder in inner city Sydney. I rent it on a minimum of 3 mths. Most people end up staying around 4-5 months, although recently I was lucky enough to have a lovely couple rent it for over a year! Renting it furnished gives me a great yield.

As part of the weekly rent of $585, I include all bills ie electricity and internet. Intermet is only $60 pm, but the electricity can vary considerably from qtr to qtr. Generally it's $300-$400 but last winter I had a bill of $800!

Is anyone in a similar position? I am thinking of implementing a fair use policy and wondered if anyone had done something similar.

 

[travelbug]

The problem when people aren't paying for it is that they don't care. Why be a little warm when you can run the AC 24/7?

I can't help with a solution. Sorry. I've been thinking about this lately though because we are thinking about letting friends stay in our house while we take a year off to travel. I need to consider the electricity though as we have a granny flat that includes electricity as well.

 

[speary]

What about putting it into the lease that you will pay for electricity and gas usage up to a certain amount say $300 per quarter?

 

[Joe D]

Why not have a provision in the lease that states how many units of power (KWh/day) are included in the rental rate and that any excess usage over this amount will be reimbursible by the tenant .

$800/qtr sounds very high for a one bedder, but it probably is the ac running 24/7.

 

[Jacque]

I'd do as Speary suggests- sound idea and reasonable.
Like hotel stays, guests tend to think less environmentally friendly these days when they're not paying for it, hence the saving water and towel re-usage signs.

 

[Sez]

When I've managed properties for owners where the utilities are included in the bills I've contacted the relevant organisations to ask what the average yearly usage is for the applicable household size. I then add a clause to the lease about "excessive usage being paid for by the tenant, the amount considered to be excessive is to be determined by the average usage amount as stated by (insert organisations here)". Just the clause has been enough to make sure that the usage is well within the norm.

 

[Pins]

Thanks for the great suggestions all. I'll contact he provider and then put something in the lease.