Property Institute disappointed by changes to Tenancy Laws

Property Institute of New Zealand Chief Executive, Ashley Church, says that the Government has missed a chance to enact ‘meaningful’ changes in a suite of new measures targeted at Landlords.

Earlier today Housing Minister Nick Smith announced plans to strengthen residential tenancy laws, including requirements for landlords to provide smoke alarms and insulation, and to declare the standard of insulation on tenancy agreements.

However, Mr Church says that the new measures appear to be motivated by political concerns rather than tenant issues and ignore less ‘sexy’ but more meaningful steps to improve housing quality.

“It would appear that these measure are designed to neutralise the Governments opponents, placate Tenant advocacy groups, and be seen to improve the lot of tenants in areas, like Auckland, where many can no longer afford to buy a home”

But Mr Church says that the measures ignore a range of issues which are of equal or greater concern to tenants.

“If the aim is to improve tenant comfort and safety then there should have been a focus on checking things such as whether the house is damp or leaking; whether there is clean water; whether the hot water cylinder is in good condition; whether all services are properly connected and whether there are any electrical faults”.

Mr Church says that most Landlords would support initiatives aimed at maintaining these standards.

“The overwhelming majority of kiwi Landlords are decent people who pride themselves on providing clean, comfortable, accommodation and who would welcome any steps to benchmark their properties against a national standard”.

Mr Church also questioned the use of legislation, rather than incentives, to achieve the outcomes proposed in the new law.

“Legislation has a funny way of producing unintended consequences – and the worry is that these measures will only serve to scare property investors out of the market – further compounding the property crisis in cities like Auckland”.

Mr Church said that the real need is for a national program which will provide a benchmark against which Landlords can assess the standard of their property.

“People tend to respond better when they’re being asked for their help rather than forced to comply”.

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