Seperate water meter for granny flat ???

Hi all.

I have a rental that is a four bedder with a single bedder attached. In the past i have been a nice landlord and paid the extra water bills. They normally dont go over $20-$30 per quarter for my other property.

Now the property above has a nice quiet bloke in the unit but it has a bunch of workers in the main house. water usage on this property is $150 per quarter:eek:

Problem being is the flat does not have a seperate meter. Has anyone come across this issue before ??. How do i get the tennants to pay there fair share
Options

1#
Apparently to get a council installed water meter means you pay an extra service charge tecnically cancelling out anything you get from the tennants.This is not an option

2#Add fixed amount to rent to cover most of the water charge. Bugger all for the unit but maybe $10 a week for the house ?

3# Install my own water meter for unit and proportion costs . A bit more labour intensive as i would have to check meters each time i get a bill and do the maths:confused:

Any thoughts guys and girls.
 
2#Add fixed amount to rent to cover most of the water charge. Bugger all for the unit but maybe $10 a week for the house ?
Yep - this is the most common way. Just advertise it was water included and load the rent to cover it.

3# Install my own water meter for unit and proportion costs . A bit more labour intensive as i would have to check meters each time i get a bill and do the maths:confused:
If you are keen, then install a flow meter to the granny flat. Yes you have to take meter readings and do the maths - get your PM to do it, that's what you pay 'em for. :)
 
Yep - this is the most common way. Just advertise it was water included and load the rent to cover it.

If you are keen, then install a flow meter to the granny flat. Yes you have to take meter readings and do the maths - get your PM to do it, that's what you pay 'em for. :)

Thanks for the reply. Im not a scrooge so maybe adding just 50% of the actual water usage to the rent is fair for all involved.

Cheers
 
Bump up the rent. Easy, simple, no real effort involved.

Yea that's what I tell my investors to do. Why pay ($55?) a quarter for a new separate meter when the usage is like $10-$15 a quarter? If there's any vacancy you're left with the entire bill too. Much better to add $5 a week to the rent and advertise it as water usage included.
 
We put in 2 check meters, one for the house one for the unit.

Both tenants pay their alloted usage. One of the tenants even reads the meters for the REA.

Cheers
 
Check with your state regulations regarding passing on metered water usage to tenants.

Otherwise simply charge appropriate rent with water included.
Marg
 
It does depend on the state and the tenancy regs however reading a second meter is not a big deal. I put one in a couple of months ago $150 all up. Saves arguments and is defensible in court.
A
 
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