What can a landlord charge the tenant?
The Legislation states that owners can pass on rates and charges for water supply and usage, so long as detailed in the Lease. Assuming that this is the case, you are permitted to charge tenants for a portion of water use and supply.
If there’s a shared meter, the percentage of the bill that the tenant is liable for should be written in the agreement.
What does a landlord pay?
There are 3 main charges to a SA Water bill;
- Supply (which can be charged to the tenant as long as it’s detailed in the lease)
- Usage charges (which can be charged to the tenant as long as it’s detailed in the lease)
- Sewerage charges (payable by the landlord)
Unlike other utilities, water is constantly connected to properties, and tenants are unable to transfer the SA Water service to their name.
The best practice is for landlords to settle the whole account with SA Water, to avoid late fees imposed by the corporation & then seek reimbursement of tenant charges thereafter.
What are some of the fine print regarding this?
Landlords should attach a copy of the bill to the tenant’s invoice when charging for water use and supply. The tenant does not have to pay for water charges if:
- The landlord does not ask for payment within 3 months of the bill’s issue
- The tenant asks for a copy of the account and the landlord doesn’t provide it within 30 days.
What can OC do for landlords?
To ensure you do not miss out on any reimbursement, we would recommend having the SA Water bills sent to our office for immediate payment using rental funds, and then we can invoice the tenant accordingly. The payment to SA Water will be expensed on your monthly and end of financial year statements, along with the income from the tenant.
