Who Pays Water in Queensland?

[WebBoard]

From: Kathryn H


In NSW our tenants pay for their water usage...is it the same for Queensland? I just received the water bill for our property in Queensland and when I asked the Property Manager about it she said that the landlord normally pays for the first 116 KL of water. On the Management Agreement it says the tenant pays for water, but the prop. manger said that was only for an amount over 116 KL. I can't find anywhere that states that the landlord pays for "normal" usage....can anyone enlighten me?
Thank You,
Kathryn

 

[mitchmakhan]

Reply: 1
From: A Mitchell


Unfortuneatly as far as I know that is correct. The tenant only pays for excess use.

Thats the way our current agreement is anyway, if anyone else can help...please tell me as well

Anthony

 

[WebBoard]

Reply: 2
From: Simon St John


Hi there

visit to http://www.rta.qld.gov.au/

The FAQ's cover the issue of water thus:

"Lessors have always been responsible for paying for water used on the premises. Before changes were made to the Act in 1998 lessors could ask the tenant to pay for excess water. The changes to the Act did not substantially change this position. The changes clarified that the lessor is responsible for a reasonable amount of water used on the premises and require the tenant to pay for water used above that amount if the premises are individually metered.

The changes to the Act were necessary due to the introduction by local councils of different water charging methods. Water charges have traditionally been incorporated into the rates paid by the owner of the premises and have been recovered by lessors in the rent payable by the tenant. Therefore, unlike other utilities, there is no direct billing relationship between the council and the tenant."

Hope this helps.

Simon

 

[WebBoard]

Reply: 2.1
From: Kathryn H


Thanks Simon, but where does 116KL come into it? What is considered "normal" usage? Should the Property Management agreement have stated an amount instead of just ticking the box that says the tenant pays water? I did print out the Fact Sheet on Water Charging from the website, but it only states that the lessors are responsible for a "reasonable" amount...that's where it's a bit ambiguous. It's not a lot of money, but as we now have 2 properties in Queensland I want to make sure of what we're responsible for. Thanks for your help.
Kathryn

 

[WebBoard]

Reply: 2.1.1
From: Simon St John


Hi Katheryn,

Perhaps give the RTA a call?

Annoyingly you can only call STD as they don't have an email address ont heir web site.

Certainly it's ambiguous, and perhaps the 116K is an attempt to estimate a reasonable amount?

Cheers, Simon

 

[WebBoard]

Reply: 2.1.1.1
From: Kathryn H


Thanks for the advice, Simon. I think at this stage we'll just pay the bill as it's not that high and trust that the Property Manager has given us the "correct" reasonable amount. It'll be interesting to see what the other property comes in at.
Cheers,
Kathryn

 

[WebBoard]

Reply: 2.1.1.1.1
From: The Wife


Whenever I get an excess water bill, I pay the council to check the mains for me, 9 times out of 10, there is a burst water main or some problem like that, its very difficult to get excess water bills in your average suburban house. Mine have always been mains pipes broken by tree roots and such.

TW

 

[Joe D]

Reply: 2.1.1.1.1.1
From: Joe D


TW

If it is a mains problem, how did you get the excess water bill? The water meter for each residence is normally just off the mains and therefore would not have the flow past it.

Regards

Joe D

 

[geoffw]

Reply: 2.1.1.1.1.2
From: Geoff Whitfield


Hey, TW, thanks for this. It was much more help than you realised.

It reminded me to call DHA to ask about the extremely high water usage in the last water account from my property. I was told that I did not have to pay any water bills at all- and if I sent in my water accounts for the last 5 years, I would get a refund!