Tenants who move on are not entitled to water charge refunds

Thousands of renters will be denied a water charge refund if they move properties under proposed guidelines agreed by the energy regulator.

The regulator has proposed that households will be entitled to a rebate if their metered bill turns out in fact to be less than their initial assessed bill.

The regulator said yesterday that three in four households will not be metered in time before water charges are introduced in October and therefore will face assessed costs until meters are installed.

But the regulator has admitted that tenants who move on from properties after paying an assessed charge will not be entitled to refunds — even if they are a conservative user of water.

Student representatives last night said they had huge concerns about the situation.

The energy regulator’s water charges plan stipulates that “once a meter is installed some customers may find that their consumption is lower than the expected average consumption of a household their size”.

In such a situation a rebate will be provided so no customer is “unfairly penalised for not having a meter”.

The regulator proposes that an assessed charge of €278 will apply for two adults.

Their guidelines say if a customer’s water charge reduces upon installation of a meter, a customer qualifies for a rebate for the time they were liable for assessed charges.

The rebate will be a one-off credit on a customer’s bill.

However, the regulator’s document also states that customers must be on the assessed charge for at least six months and that they will only be refunded 12 months after a meter is installed.

This means that a customer using less than the assessed amount of water must in fact be in an apartment or house for at least a year and a half before they get a refund.

It also remains unclear if someone else, such as a landlord or the next tenant instead gets any refund due.

The regulator’s paper adds: “Irish Water proposes customers that change their occupancy status will not be eligible for a rebate.”

The private residential tenancies board says there are 458,000 people renting.

Many thousands of these though are thought to be temporary or short term.

Union of Students in Ireland president Laura Harmon said the situation did not provide an incentive for students to save water.

“It is something we wouldn’t agree with. Those on shorter leases are going to be at a disadvantage. If students conserve water, they should get a rebate just like everybody else.

“With everything going on with the student accommodation crisis, those in college could benefit from a rebate.

“Many students take out a nine month lease and often have to find somewhere else new. They certainly move on more than other sectors.

“We’d have huge concerns if they are entitled to a rebate but move on and other people might benefit instead.”

The USI says it will now make a submission about the situation to the regulator, who will accept such concerns about the draft charges up until next Thursday.