Water is landlords' responsibility: APIA

The Department of Building and Housing says the $190 fixed wastewater charge levied by Auckland provider Watercare is a landlord/owner charge and should not be passed on to tenants.

Whitburn says he has told his members to pay the charge.

The issue has been in dispute for months, with landlords arguing that because the $190 charge is broken down into a daily rate in Watercare’s bills, tenants should be liable for the portion that relates to the time of their tenancy.

Whitburn said landlords would have to wear it. “And given this it should be in the land rates bill, for administrative ease.”

It follows a Tenancy Tribunal decision in a case where the parties were seeking clarification of the tenant’s liability to pay for wastewater charges.

The tenancy in question stared in 2008 and the tenant was liable for water rates but not wastewater charges because they were included in the Rodney Council rated bill.

When the way the water was charged changed – as all Auckland water charges were when the new super council came into effect, the landlord sought clarification on whether the charges could be claimed from the tenant.

The adjudicator ruled that it would not generally be acceptable for a landlord to require a tenant to pay for wastewater.

“In order to change the current arrangement, there needs to be evidence, either written or oral, of an amended agreement, whereby both parties freely agreed to change the existing terms of the tenancy.”

Whitburn said: “Whilst I am slightly disappointed with the outcome, I do value certainty. APIA hopefully with the full support the entity it affiliates to, in the NZ Property Investors' Federation hopes to lobby Central Government for a law change for what the best outcome is: water accounts to be in the names of the consumer, just like power accounts.”