RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES ACT 1995 - SECT 73
RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES ACT 1995 - SECT 73
(1) It is a term of a
residential tenancy agreement that the landlord must bear all
statutory charges imposed in respect of the premises.
(2) However, the
following provisions apply subject to subsections (3) and (4):
(a)
rates and charges for water supply are to be borne as agreed between the
landlord and tenant;
(b) in
the absence of an agreement—
(i)
if the supply of water to the premises is separately
metered—rates and charges for water supply are to be borne by the
tenant; and
(ii)
in any other case—rates and charges for water
supply are to be borne by the landlord.
(3) A tenant is not
required to pay rates and charges for water supply if—
(a) the
landlord fails to request payment from the tenant within 3 months of the
issue of the bill for those rates and charges by the water supply authority;
or
(b) the
tenant has requested from the landlord a copy of the account for the rates and
charges and the landlord has failed to provide the copy to the tenant within
30 days of the request and at no cost.
(4) A landlord must
ensure that an amount borne by a tenant under an agreement under
subsection (2)(a) or under subsection (2)(b)(i) is reduced by—
(a) in
the case of a tenant on land held as a single title consisting of a single
place of residence—the water security rebate amount; or
(b) in
the case of a tenant on land held as a single title consisting of more than
1 place of residence—the proportionate water security
rebate amount,
(and if the reduction under this subsection results in a negative amount,
0 is to be substituted for that amount).
(5) If, during the
billing period in which a landlord obtained the benefit of the
water security rebate amount, the premises to which the rebate relates were
subject to more than 1 residential tenancy agreement, the landlord must
ensure that a reduction under subsection (4) is applied to the amount
borne by a tenant under each tenancy agreement on a pro rata basis
according to the number of days in the billing period in which each tenancy
agreement respectively applied at the premises.
(6) In this
section—
"proportionate water security rebate amount", in relation to a tenant on land
held as a single title consisting of more than 1 place of residence, is
the amount that results from dividing the water security rebate amount for
that title by the number of places of residence at the land to which the title
relates;
"water security rebate amount", in relation to rates and charges for water
supply to residential premises, means the amount specified in an account for
those rates and charges (whether before or after the commencement of this
definition) as representing the rebate for water security purposes.