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Councils and housing associations "face multi-million pound refunds to tenants" after water re-selling test case in High Court Monday, 02 December 2019 12:00 Local authorities and housing associations could face having to refund millions of pounds to tenants after a council lost a test case in the High Court on water re-selling, it has been claimed. The background to the case of Royal Borough of Kingston-Upon-Thames v Moss [2019] EWHC 3261 (Ch), as set out by Mr Justice Morgan, was that since 1 April 1990, in accordance with the Water Act 1989 and, later, the Water Industry Act 1991, Thames Water Utilities has been the water and sewerage undertaker in relation to properties within the Royal borough. In that period, Kingston has been the owner of a large number of council houses and flats, most of which are let to its tenants on secure tenancies within the meaning of the Housing Act 1985. Under the 1991 Act, Thames Water is entitled to charge for the supply by it of water and sewerage services to premises which benefit from such services and including, therefore, the premises occupied by Kingston's council tenants. The test case was concerned with those houses and flats where the supply of water is not metered. Article continues below...