Water meter - should I change?

jasp2

I know that I could save a lot of money by changing to a water meter, but I have a concern about doing so. Mine is a family house and I am worried that by changing to a water meter a potential future buyer with a larger family might be put off. My estate agent says they might be, my plumber says they won't as meters are so common these days. Any thoughts anyone?

Neil_Jones

As a general rule if you have more bedrooms than people you would save.
The caveat is once its in and its in over a year it won't come out.

The general trend is for every property to have a meter which was at one point welcomed by the last Labour government in 2009 so if that gets picked up again the issue about putting future potential buyers off may take care of itself.

Cardew

A future buyer could(and should!) be placed on a meter regardless of their wishes. The Water Act enabled existing occupiers to keep payments based on the Rateable Value(RV) but then water companies had the power to install a meter on change of occupant.


Some companies enforce that regulation - others don't. However there are signs that more companies are enforcing the regulation; as of course they should to meet the spirit and letter of the law.

HappyMJ

jasp2 wrote: »

I know that I could save a lot of money by changing to a water meter, but I have a concern about doing so. Mine is a family house and I am worried that by changing to a water meter a potential future buyer with a larger family might be put off. My estate agent says they might be, my plumber says they won't as meters are so common these days. Any thoughts anyone?

My personal opinion is that all properties should have a meter. Existing occupiers currently are not required to change to a meter but new occupiers may be. Having a meter will put off some buyers with large families looking to have 2 people per bedroom. That will be very few buyers. I really wouldn't worry about it though. If you're going to stay in the property for the long term you'll save much more money than losing 1 or 2 potential buyers in the future.

macman

It's an urban myth. if someone wants a house, they will buy it. I doubt if 8 out of 10 buyers even ask if the property is metered or not.
And as pointed out above, all water co's. can enforce a meter on a new occupant anyway.