Government proposals could see landlords made responsible for tenants' unpaid water bills
Posted by Sue Hopson
Ensuring accurate tenant details are passed on to water companies could soon be part of a landlord property management services.
New proposals from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) could see landlords made liable for tenants' unpaid water bills should they fail to provide details of those occupying their properties to utilities providers.
According to Defra, unpaid bills are currently placing a sizeable burden on the water industry, with the outstanding revenue from domestic water customers in the UK raising to more than £1.6 billion last year.
It calculates that this adds an average of £15 to the bills of honest paying customers.
"I want to tackle the problem of bad debt in the water industry," said water minister Richard Benyon. "It is just not right that responsible people have to pick up the bills of those who are not paying."
The majority of water debtors are tenants in rented properties, said Defra, but, unlike for electricity and gas bills, there is currently no requirement on the owners of the building to provide information on the identity of the occupier to the water company.
As such, two possible solutions have been put forward for consultation by the government.
The first would see new regulation introduced making landlords liable for the water charges in their properties should they fail to supply details of their tenants to the water company.
Alternatively, a voluntary scheme could be set up whereby landlords are asked to share occupancy information with utilities firms.
"Mindful of the burden that regulation may impose, I want to explore whether we can take action through a voluntary approach," said Mr Benyon.
It follows recently announced government measures to enable water companies to introduce new 'social tariffs' to help provide lower bills for low income and vulnerable groups.
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