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Water Charges: A Cost for the Tenant or Landlord?
07 August, 2014
*Image source Wikimedia Commons
The Commission for Energy Regulation recently releases estimate costs for the introduction of water charges. What was once freely taken for granted, will now be charged on a metered consumption basis, much like many of our European counterparts. The roll out of water meters puts the looming cost of water charges and what this means for households front and centre.
Property Management Lease
But what if you are one of the many tenants renting a property from a landlord? Is water treated as a utility bill tenants have to pay just like electricity or gas? Most standard leases between a tenant and landlord will pass on the charge to the tenant. At Rose Property Services our standard lease clause states that the tenant must “pay promptly to the authorities or to whomever they are due, local authority, refuse charges and outgoings (including gas, water, electricity, cable television and telephone if any, relating to the property) including any which are imposed after the date of this Agreement (even if of a novel nature) and to pay the total cost of any re-connection fee relating to the supply of gas, water, electricity, cable television and telephone if the same is disconnected or the operating company changed.”
Know Your Responsibilities
If you are a landlord, speak to your Property Management Cork Company to ensure your lease is up to date with the relevant information including the introduction of water charges. If you are a tenant, ensure you understand that it is your responsibility to treat this as a utility bill like anything else. With water charges starting from January 2015, investing time into practicing water conservation at home now, could help you make substantial savings on your water bill in the future.
Water Saving Tips
- Find out where your stopcock is and make sure you know how and where to turn off your water if you need to. This is particularly important in the winter when it comes to potential frost damage.
- Swap running the tap and waiting until it is cold for filling a jug with water and putting it in the fridge to chill.
- Fill a basin with water to wash vegetables and fruit and use the same water to feed any house plants afterwards. Think twice about throwing water out.
- Take shorter showers and don’t run the tap when brushing your teeth or washing your face.
- Only turn the dishwasher and washing machine on when you have a full load.
- Replace old toilet cisterns with a dual flush toilet, it will save you in the long run as the old cisterns flush down far more water than is needed.
- Most importantly, ensure you don’t have any leaks as this will waste the most water quickly and needs to be dealt with urgently.