Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ed Sirett
On Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:55:10 +0000, asalcedo wrote:
I am renting the lower ground flat in my house.
I would like to install a water meter so that the tenant pays for
actual water consumed.
I know where the cold and hot water pipes that go into the flat are.
They are inside the property.
Can I purchase two water meters and install them myself?
This way by adding the two readings I would know the water consumed and
could bill the tenant based on the bill for the whole house.
Ideally I would like the tenant to be billed directly, but since the
water meters are inside the property, and dependent on the first main
meter I doubt the water company would do that.
Thanks,
Antonino
There is no reason why you shouldn't add your own water meters. These are
available from the BES catalogue. You can use them to keep a check on the
consumption and also monitor the water suppliers meter.
If you wish to charge the tenant for water then (INAL) I believe that this
arrangement must be part of the tenancy agreement. I also believe that you
may only charge a 'reasonable' amount for resold water. If you were (say)
to charge three+ times the suppliers rate then your tenant could refuse on
the grounds of this being an unfair contract.
Frankly in my own experience as a landlord: It is simply easier to say the
rent includes water you can them claim the cost of supplying the water
against the rental income for taxation purposes. You set the rent (perhaps
for the next tenant?) to comfortably include the water charges.
Billing the tenant (even for the right amount) for water used has a
'Rigsby' feel to it and may be perceived as such.
--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
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Thank you for your comments. I think I have now enough information to proceed.
As mentioned above, my situation is that the flat I am renting is part of the whole house, it is actually where the house keeper used to live.
I don't need that space and it has been easy to rent it out because if fully independent from the rest of the property (different front door, separate bathroom, kitchen, etc)
At the moment I am renting it with all utilities included. I do have a separate electricity meter for that flat but no water meter.
My small shock the other day was that the water bill was way above what was expected considering the number of people in the house (plus flat).
I am pretty confident that charging utilities at cost is going to be found acceptable by any future tenant.
And yes, after looking at all the complicated plumbing and pipes in the garage, where the mains and boilers are, I can identify the two pipes that feed the cold and hot water for the flat.
Now that I know that a meter can be purchased and easily installed and that it is done for different purposes I will go ahead and do that.
Regards,
Antonio