Landlords welcome review of tenant water debt
26 January 2012
By Jenny Barrett
Landlords are welcoming plans for a Government review of the Flood and Water Management Act, which could see it reduce certain powers.
Currently, the Floods and Water Management Act can force landlords to share information on changes of tenancy with water companies.
If they fail to do this, landlords can be liable for payment of water and sewerage bills if they fail to provide specified details of occupiers.
“Government policy in other areas is pushing for personal responsibility and the same should apply here, that landlords should not be held liable for their tenants' debts, which is simply unfair,” said Ian Fletcher, Director of policy at the British Property Federation.
The cost of unpaid bills by some customers amounts to an estimated £15 per year extra for paying customers, something which the Government is keen to tackle.
In particular, it is those in private rented accommodation that are being targeted, as it was found that 80 per cent of those in water debt were customers living in rented properties.
Water companies struggle to charge tenants in rented accommodation, because they do not have the correct information and occupancy periods are lower.
The Government is keen to use landlords as a way of obtaining customer information, to reduce the amount of water debt.
The Government has also stated that it will look at a voluntary and non-regulatory approach, to reduce the burden that regulation could impose on landlords.
“We welcome this review and agree that water companies could do more to limit bad debts,” added Mr Fletcher.
“Many landlords do already voluntarily provide information, but this could be made far easier and therefore encourage far more data sharing with the right systems in place.”
The Government has stated that unpaid water bills from customers has spiralled from £705 million in 1999 to £1.6 billion last year.
