Water meter and property value

thatoldchestnut

I am looking at getting a water meter in my one bed flat because my flat is now single occupancy whereas until recently it was two of us, and it looks like it'd save me money. Just thinking about if I eventually sell it, would a water meter make the property less attractive to couples because there would be more occupants than bedrooms (and apparently that's one of the considerations with water meters), or do you think you'd still save if there were two of you in a one bed? Or would it not really be an issue? (I can't say I thought of it when we were looking for somewhere to buy, but then I was an inexperienced first time buyer).

I'm hoping in any case that they find they can't install the meter and put me on the assessed charge instead, and then presumably any future occupant can do what they want.

(EDIT: Ugh, sorry, I think I accidentally put this in the wrong forum and don't know how to move it...)

Section62

thatoldchestnut said:

I am looking at getting a water meter in my one bed flat because my flat is now single occupancy whereas until recently it was two of us, and it looks like it'd save me money. Just thinking about if I eventually sell it, would a water meter make the property less attractive to couples because there would be more occupants than bedrooms (and apparently that's one of the considerations with water meters), or do you think you'd still save if there were two of you in a one bed? Or would it not really be an issue? (I can't say I thought of it when we were looking for somewhere to buy, but then I was an inexperienced first time buyer).

I'm hoping in any case that they find they can't install the meter and put me on the assessed charge instead, and then presumably any future occupant can do what they want.

(EDIT: Ugh, sorry, I think I accidentally put this in the wrong forum and don't know how to move it...)

Water meters will become the norm - there will be a diminishing set of people who would set out to buy a property without a meter.

And most people buying wouldn't think about whether a property was metered or not before buying, and in principle, the water company can require a change to a metered supply on change of ownership.  So even if marketed without a meter the buyer has no guarantee they won't end up with one.

Don't worry too much about where you've posted this, this board covers quite a lot of ground.

thatoldchestnut

That's great, thanks very much.

macman

It's a no-brainer that it will save you money, unless you are on an unfeasibly low RV.
If it doesn't, just revert to RV within 12 months. You cannot lose.

silvercar

macman said:

It's a no-brainer that it will save you money, unless you are on an unfeasibly low RV.
If it doesn't, just revert to RV within 12 months. You cannot lose.

I think OP’s query was that a new owner would be stuck with the meter and won’t have the option of unmetered supply, so whether that was unattractive to a new buyer.

In my area, there is compulsory metering on change of ownership, so any new owner is forced onto a meter, so it would be irrelevant.

Norman_Castle

In a large, many bedroomed property it might be a very minor negative but for a buyer of a one bed flat its unlikely it'd make a difference.

From memory I'd need to use 3 or 4 times as much water as I do now to match what my unmetered bill would be so even with extra occupants its likely it would still be cheaper.

DRP

4/5 bed semi with 3  (yes i know, ridiculous) bathrooms. 2 adults & 2 primary children.

We're saving over a 1/3 metered, compared to our previous unmetered bill.

twopenny

Look up the details about watermeters on your water supply company s website.

Here you could have it uninstalled up to a year or on change of ownership by the buyeers.

But unleess they both did baths every day or stayed in shower for ages twice a day it should work out well

Currently my bill dropped from £70 3 bed semi to £11 for 2 bed 2 bathroom bungalow.
And that includes watering the garden.