Government announced a review that could see it pull back from proposed powers that would make residential landlords liable for their tenants’ unpaid water bills.

Under the Flood and Water Management Act, Government can make property owners liable for payment of water and sewerage bills if they fail to provide details of their tenants within a specified time however, they are now considering whether a voluntary approach would work better.

Analysis shows that around 80% of those who do not pay their water bills are private tenants and the concern is that unpaid water and sewerage bills add about £15 to the bills of those who pay on time. 

 

Where the identity of the tenant is not known the outstanding bill is forwarded to the landlord because the tenant has moved out of the property and it becomes harder to chase their debt.  

Before 1999, the approach to unpaid bills was simply to turn off the water supply. Now a supplier is not allowed to do this having a statutory duty to supply water. They have no statutory power to withdraw supply or to insist that an occupier or property owner provide the identity of the delinquent tenant, or even to require a contract between the supplier and the customer.

Ian Fletcher, Director of Policy at the British Property Federation, said he welcomed the review, Government policy in other areas is pushing for personal responsibility, and the same should apply here ... Landlords should not be held liable for their tenants’ debts, which is simply unfair ... We agree that water companies could do more to limit bad debts. 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 consultation closes on April 16 and can be found at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/consult/files/bad-debt-consult-condoc-120123.pdf

The Bank of England has raised its inflation forecast for two years' time to around 1.8%, more than some economists had predicted.

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