What costs am I allowed to pass on to the tenant as a landlord?

We answer these and many other questions in our video blog episodes.

Here is the transcript of episode 37 to read through:

A professional management company takes care of all the work relating to the property, and professional management also knows what the recoverable service charges are. That is, the ones the tenant pays for you. And what are the service charges that you have to pay yourself? If we wanted to list them, it's simple. The smallest part cannot be passed on and you have to pay it yourself. That is the management costs themselves, for a good property, perhaps €15, €20 net a month.

Also non-reallocatable are repairs and repair reserves. Everything else relating to a property constitutes reallocatable additional costs for the tenant. That means: quarterly property tax, insurance contributions, refuse collection, staircase lighting, staircase cleaning, snow clearance in winter for winter maintenance, heating costs and water costs. These are the additional costs that the property management reallocates to the tenant and which form the tenant's share of the inclusive rent. They therefore pay the basic rent plus the additional costs.

And those are recoverable and non-recoverable service charges. And the management will properly divide and bill that for you. The crucial thing is, with property as a capital investment, you have to pay the smallest part yourself, because a great deal, three-quarters of all service charges, are certainly recoverable service charges, and that is precisely why a rented property is very attractive.

Keywords:

Property management, recoverable service charges, owner costs, inclusive rent, investment property, tenanted property, service charge statement