Are you being reimbursed for all the costs that you can feasibly pass on to your tenants at your investment property?   A lot of landlords we speak to are not aware that they can ask their tenant to pay for the water that they use during their tenancy.
There are some strict guidelines in NSW with regard to what a landlord needs to do first, so that they can actually pass this charge on to their tenants, but in the end I feel that it is worth doing, so that you can recover the cost.
The first thing that you need to do is to make the property water efficient.
The Department of Fair Trading NSW has deemed that for a tenant to be asked to pay their water usage on a rental property, it must first be made water efficient.  This can be done by sending a plumber to the property and installing water flow limiting devices to either the water line or having them installed directly into the required areas.

The areas where the water efficiency needs to be addressed has been clearly prescribed and is as follows;

• Kitchen cold water tap
• Bathroom vanity cold water tap
• Shower head
• No leaking taps on the premises

These water devices are required to run at 9 litres of flow per minute or less.  Once you have met this requirement, you can start charging your tenant for their water usage.
Professionals Lithgow can also arrange for your water rates to be sent directly to our office, so that you don’t even have to remember to send the bills in to us when they arrive.

For further information, you can read the fact sheet from Fair Trading NSW on the link below.
NSW Fair Trading – Water Charges
If you would like to discuss this issue, or have any other questions regarding what you can, or cannot ask your tenant to pay, please call me at the office on 63525125, or email me at tina.case@professionals.com.au