Incentives for individual metering and charging

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to look more closely at incentives for a landlord to use individual metering and charging of heat and water. This paper also aims to look at the possible reasons for the differences in use of individual metering and charging between Sweden and Germany. Design/methodology/approach – The research in this paper is based on a questionnaire and interviews with landlords, in Sweden, using individual metering and charging. Findings – The two main incentives for the landlords in the survey to use individual metering are the possibility to save energy and the possibility to create a fair allocation of heating cost between tenants. Sweden has a long history of heat and water included in the rent leading to a possibly tougher transition to individual metering. Originality/value – To see the overall picture and understand the purpose of individual metering is important to avoid conflicts between landlords and tenants. The paper aids this process.