I wonder how many Landlords and Tenants in NSW are aware that S39 (b) of the Residential Tenancies Act (2010) states that water usage charges are only payable by tenants if the premises are separately metered and “contain water efficiency measures prescribed by the Regulations, and…
That the Regulation states at Cl 11(a) “that all showerheads on the premises must have a maximum flow rate of 9 litres per minute”, (b) that “all internal cold water taps and single mixer taps for kitchen sinks or bathroom hand basins on the premises must have a maximum flow rate of 9 litres per minute”, and (c) “that there must be no leaking taps on the premises at the commencement of the residential tenancy agreement or when the water efficiency measures are installed, whichever is the later”.
Perhaps if a few tenants refused to pay for water usage in non-compliant premises, then Landlords would comply with the Legislation and the community as a whole would be better off by saving water; a precious natural resource.
Our Plan’s not separately metered and as all 27 Lots are occupied, and mostly by tenants, our water consumption is steadily increasing and the costs of that to the Owners Corporation is growing at a much more rapid rate because our Water Supply Authority has fiddled with the thresholds (kL) where the unit rates (¢/kL) increase sharply.
So at our last AGM a Resolution was passed requesting all Proprietors to ensure that their Units complied with Legislation concerning water efficiency by a date 3 months hence, and that Landlords instructed their Property Managers to check for and as necessary fix any leaking taps and shower fittings, and faulty toilet cisterns – concurrently with their (not so) regular inspections.
I even offered to coordinate with our plumber and with tenants to ensure that water efficient fixtures and fittings were supplied and installed to all rental units, so that Landlords could then, armed with the plumber’s declaration, claim the Water Efficiency Rebate provided by the local Water Authority – that would by the way have covered almost 70% of the total (S&I) costs.
It’s now 5 months since our AGM, and guess how many Proprietors have complied with the O/C’s request and/or taken up my offer to coordinate with our plumber and with their tenants?
HINT: the answer does not include any number between 1 and 9.
Why? Because in my experience environmental awareness is not even skin deep, unless there’s a demonstrable pay-back within a short timeframe on the expenditure involved in being green, and in the case of our Plan the Proprietors don’t see that a benefit to the O/C is a benefit to them individually.