A safe, well maintained home is a tenant's right

“It's good that tenants are becoming more aware that they have a right to expect a safe and well maintained home” says Andrew King, Executive Officer of the NZ Property Investors’ Federation (NZPIF). “The NZPIF believes that landlords are in a service industry and providing a well maintained home is good customer service in addition to a legal requirement.”

However the NZPIF believes Government was right to reject a comprehensive Warrant of Fitness (WOF) for rental properties. This would affect all tenancies and increase rental prices, rather than concentrating on correcting the main aspect which leads to children becoming sick from their living situations.

Only 7% of calls from tenants to the Tenancy Services call centre are about the condition of their property, so an all-encompassing WOF would be an expensive and poorly targeted proposal. The Minister of Housing’s focus on improving insulation levels in rental properties is likely to achieve more in terms of improving the living conditions of children. All tenanted properties will require floor and ceiling insulation by mid-2019, while social housing which receives government subsidies will require insulation by July 2016.

ENDS

© Scoop Media