Why DON'T tenants pay water rates?

S

stevie_sloth

I was very pleased when I was a tenant that we didn't have to pay certain bills, like water rates, council rates and strata fees, but...why DON'T tenants have to pay these?? Especially water rates.

I don't understand why water is any different to other consumable bills like electricity, gas, phone, etc. The tenants are the only ones using the water, so why not pay it as normal?

Also, going further in that direction, why don't tenants pay council rates and strata fees too?

The owner of a property doesn't get to "enjoy" any of the benefits of living in that property. What do they get for paying their strata fees? The TENANTS are the only ones who use the common grounds, pool, stairwell, gardens, any other facilities.

Also the council rates. The owners don't live in the area, they don't get to enjoy road improvements, they don't create rubbish for the council trucks to remove, etc...only the tenants do.

I understand the water thing for tenants back when the water and council rates were combined on one bill, but they're not anymore....so I don't know why tenants still don't have to pay for water. It's the same as electricity - a utility only used by the tenant.
 
They do! Well at least the water usage bit. As the landlord you have to pay for the sewerage, but all consumption I bill to my tennants. In NSW recently, you had to upgrade your property to have water saving devices installed such as flow limiters to allow you to continue to do this. I had it done, cost about $500 I think for the plumber, but can now continue to charge my tennants for their water consumption.

Pretty sure it is the same in QLD.

Cheers,
Michael
 
stevie_sloth said:
I was very pleased when I was a tenant that we didn't have to pay certain bills, like water rates, council rates and strata fees, but...why DON'T tenants have to pay these?? Especially water rates.
.
Click to expand...

I believe that the root cause of it is the way the system has been structured. If water services were structured like the phone and electricity then, we won't have this issue.
 
Yeah, I was just reading another thread about it.

We didn't have to pay anything as tenants. YAY for us! lol.

But we lived in an apartment, so our property wasn't individually metered.
 
My rental is not individually metered for water consumption (unit). A previous rental was a house and was.

I paid water for the house, not the unit.
 
I still don't get why tenants can't pay for water in units with non-individual meters.

There are 15 units in the complex here and we each pay an equal portion. We each pay a separate service fee, and then a portion of the overall usage. Why would it be any different for the tenant to pay that same portion of usage?
 
I believe that unlike electricity and gas, water is considered an essential service (the others are optional) and therefore the landlord must provide it. Well that's what my property manager told me anyway.
 
Electricity and gas are not essential? I think they're MORE essential than water these days!! You can BUY bottled water. You can brush your teeth in that bottled water and shower at the beach nearby (if you live in my house, lol).

But no electricity? Then you're sitting around in the dark eating raw carrot sticks. NO appliances, NO heating if it's freezing, NO cooling if it's boiling. People die that way!! NO TV. People have died of boredom from that, you know.

No one ever died from drinking bottled water.

lol
 
Water service is considered as essential compared to anything else. Also it is not possible to simply cut you off from water supply. I think (in Sydney) the owner of the house is responsible for the whole bill!
 
Stevie,
I'm guessing these are mainly rhetorical q's.. as the tenancy laws are setup in favour of the tenant, and only seem to get worse :rolleyes:

Although you can pass on water consumption if the prop is individually metered, waterwise etc, last time I checked the water consumption was less than half the bill (in Brisbane).

Council rates would be a good one as tenants seem to get a free ride with council improvements.. other than they pay in tax.

Body corp fees shouldn't be paid by the tenant anymore than maintenance costs for a house. It's the cost of keeping and maintaining a property.

You can think of the positives - frequent flyer points for paying the bills, coupons for taking rubbish to the tip, warm fuzzy feeling you get for subsidising a tenant's living costs and paying their contribution for council maintenance & improvements :cool:
 
devank said:
I think (in Sydney) the owner of the house is responsible for the whole bill!
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Incorrect.

Since Jan 2011, the new RTA says tenant pays water bill if it is metered separately and the house is waterwise (low flow taps etc).

The water bill must be presented to the tenant for payment within 3 months of the LL receiving the bill from council (or tenant does not have to pay). The LL cannot 'save up' all the water bills and present them to the tenant at the end of a tenancy.
 
We have the right to pass on water usage to our tenants as the property has been certified (Qld).

Problem is that the billing cycle is usually completely out of sync with the lease, so usage cannot be passed on easily unless there is a long term tenant. Also some charges are in advance and some in arrears.

Unlike electricity, water cannot be disconnected at the end of a tenancy and reconnected for the next tenant.
Marg
 
Propertunity said:
Marg, we have the same issue in NSW, but here the PM's read the water meter on ingoing and outgoing and make the adjustment. Just a thought :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I think the definition of the PM who told the owenr they have to pay for

all water usgae & water rates it is "typically lazy".
 
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