Guest blog: Time to sort water issues once and for all

The politics behind the whole water debarcle and the over inflated costs is disgusting. With Auckland Council owning 100% shares in Watercare - yet Watercare being a separate entity, removes any direct liability from the council for every poor decision that gets made. With absurd infrastructure growth charges, continual increases in water charges and now inevitable fee increases due to administrative overhead caused by moving to monthly billing system, they 1. wonder why we have a housing shortage and 2. wonder why rents are so high. I'm off to pull out the water meter from my rental properties, pay the fixed unmetered cost of $582 per year and tell the tenants they can fill up the sink, have baths every night and leave the garden spinkler on 24x7...

Water Care and other water companies need to come into modern times, stop being so stubborn and let tenants set up accounts just like they do with power, gas and phone. Do we hear those utility companies complaining about billing tenants directly? no! works just fine and dandy!

This is a major issue for landlords and as is stated accounts for water should be set up directly with the tenant. Watercare have got the best of both worlds on this and must enjoy a very low bad debtors list. Now having to administer these oncharges to tenants on a monthly basis and chase up late payment is a major admin headache. I've set mine up now on electronic billing so I can easily flick the bill onto the tenant electronically saves scanning or photocopying and posting. All of mine are metered so they get the full charge. Time watercare set up with the user.

Agree 100%. The current situation is ridiculous and more needs to be done to force water providers to deal with the users of their services, rather than the owner of the property at which the said services are supplied.

I grew up in a rental where my parents paid rent for the property and monthly charges for services supplied by the local council, for the consumption of energy, water and services like TV, phone line etc. In NZ are all housing related expenses charged to the property owner. No wonders that the costs and consequently the rents are going through the roof. Does it really make sense to separate the consumer from the related costs or invoice? It is too easy to condemn the landlord to be the debt collector for unpaid water bills etc. And to split tap water and waste water make little sense either - who drinks water, p... water or not? In my understanding waste water is a result of water usage – why treating it differently?

As a property manager this is an on going head ache with owners screaming and tenants not paying,as the TT laws state that the OWNER is responsible for a potable water supply for tenants, and yes try going to tribunal, takes 8 weeks if lucky to get a hearing, then have the order, then have the tenants still not pay or better still disappear [try getting a forwarding address and being told THAT UNDER THE PRIVACY ACT!!!!!!!!]WE ARE ALWAYS BEHIND THE 8 BALL THEN COP IT FROM THE OWNERS??? it is about time that the Govt departments be given the right to disclose as most of my tenants are beneficiaries. As Klauster said if the tenant doesn't pay direct to the water company then they suffer when its cut off. Janet

It is a shambles and typical of a council run utility. I have always paid only the portion that I am currently liable for and send the invoice on to the tenant. If they choose not to pay their portion then late penalties are added to their portion of the account. When they leave I get a water reading done and any outstanding monies comes out of the bond. I have had Watercare debt collection ring me and I tell them not my problem, I have paid my portion contact the tenant. I am certainly not their debt collector.

OMG... I have just done a relocatable property in Rodney area. I was quoted $7,000 in infrastructure growth charges. I have now finished the property and asked Watercare to get the water on, and now been quoted $14,800. There is no way in hell I am paying this fee. Keep an eye out on fair go... this is absolute daylight robbery.

My thought on water is in time gone by when land was first rated the proceeds was for the infrastructure of the city. Water is a need,rates keep going up and so do the water charges and the thought is that we get boned twice by the butchers knife

If the tenant pays for their power and telephone usage, then water must be treated the same way. As a landlord, I am not responsible for tenants use of water. This whole thing is crazy! So what can we do? Surely if enough people got together and formed a pressure group....

The water bill consider this as a land lord, a leak can be costly, a burst pipe more so a monthly account. I consider it a blessing as it could save you money if its not an estimated one and check your water meters frequently yourselves if possible at home and on the rentals.

The waste water levy was initially part of the land rates. I think that it is fair that tenants pay for water usage, and that landlords pay the waste water levy. I am a landlord of many years standing and both parties believe that it's unfair. In many cases tenants are considered low socio economic, why penalise them with more charges. Why should a tenant pay waste water levies? This is just an unnecessary charge, that burdens the tenant even more, yet landlords also believe is unfair.

I wonder how Housing New Zealand and Auckland Council get the money from their tenants to pay the water charges OR do they (HNZ and AC) just pay the accounts and their tenants get free water. I've sent a letter to Minister of Housing which must have got lost in the mail. Maybe one to Len Brown asking him how it's done. It's hard enough with three without having thousands.