Are you renting out a property including gas, water and electricity? Inform your tenants about higher costs

5-1-2022 — 

It will not have escaped your notice. Gas prices have risen enormously worldwide. Electricity prices are also rising.
This can have consequences if you rent out a property for a rental price that includes the supply of gas and electricity.

Rental price with or without additional costs for G/W/E
There are 3 possibilities:
1. your tenant pays a fixed amount for G/W/E on top of the rent
2. your tenant pays an advance amount on top of the rent for G/W/E
3. your tenant does not pay you any amount for G/W/E and pays the energy supplier directly

Rental contracts with fixed amounts for G/W/E generally only occur in properties where there is only 1 meter for several units, such as a student house. This does not allow for a clear distribution of costs per unit, so you have to calculate with fixed costs.

For rental contracts with an advance amount for G/W/E you must, based on the annual statement from the supplier, refund the tenant the overcharged amount or the tenant must pay an additional amount for the overused.

What to do if tenants are paying you for G/W/L now that prices are so high?
Do you have a contract with an energy supplier for a fixed rate and will that contract continue for some time? Then there is nothing to worry about (yet). With a bit of luck the prices will fall again and you will only have to think about it towards the end of your contract.

Do you have a contract with a variable rate, an expiring contract or are the costs for energy included in your own service costs? Then the prices charged to you by the supplier will rise with the market. And so your tenant will incur higher costs for consumption. While you may have a (too) low amount for G/W/E in the rental contract, which means your tenant may have to pay a lot more later on. And that often leads to hassle with your tenant.

Therefore we advise you, when you ask for a payment for G/W/E on top of the rental price, to at least inform your tenant about the extremely high prices for gas and electricity. And in any case to ask them to pay attention to their consumption and to mention that they will probably have to pay extra, even with normal use. The message remains unpleasant. But at least the tenant cannot be surprised and you have less chance of hassle with the tenant about the settlement.

Let the tenant conclude the G/W/L contract himself
We always recommend, unless there is no other way, to let the tenant conclude a contract with a supplier himself. Then you do not have to carry out the annual administration, and subsequently billing, yourself.

Do you want the tenant to conclude his own contract with a supplier? Especially for an expat this can be a difficult maze. We can help with that. We are connected to a platform where we can easily arrange the energy connection for your tenant. This service is completely free!

Tax compensation
Households with an average energy consumption moreover receive ca. € 400 discount on energy tax as compensation for the extreme prices.