As home ownership becomes less affordable, the private-sector rental market is expanding. About one third of Kiwis now rent and the number of landlords grows almost every day.
It's time, say experienced landlords, to update the Residential Tenancies Act to cope with these changes in our society.
The 1986 act is being reviewed. Interested parties have until February 18 to comment on a government discussion paper that covers issues such as whether landlords and property managers should have to be registered, whether there should be a `quality mark' for their services, and whether standards for rental properties should be set out in the law.
As the legislation stands, if you are a landlord you cannot help but think that tenants are a protected species. Of 13 unlawful acts prescribed, 11 are targeted against landlords, one against tenants and one against both, says Scotney Williams of the Tenancy Practice Consultancy in Auckland. The only unlawful act for a tenant is failure to allow right of entry to the landlord, while neither party can change locks without the consent of the other. Unlawful acts are not crimes, but civil wrongs are decided by the Tenancy Tribunal, and carry financial punishment.
'Achieving a fairer balance in terms of unlawful acts is one change landlords would like made in the new act,' says Williams. Others include:
According to Craig Paddon, president of the NZ Property Investors Federation, there is a prevailing view that private landlords are evil and need to be legislated against.
'The regulations very much favour the tenant and we need balance,' he says. But it won't be an easy task.
'The more I deal with tenants in the lower quartile of the market in which I have chosen to invest, the more I realise that there are no silver bullets to fix tenancy law-related issues,' says Lower Hutt-based property investor John Pfahlert.
It is not just landlords who want to see improvements in the legislation: the Tenants Protection Association (TPA) is also lobbying for change on behalf of tenants, Helen Gatonyi, TPA co-ordinator in Christchurch, says necessary changes include:
Gatonyi; who is a member of the external reference group established by the Department of Building and Housing to prepare the discussion paper, believes that the majority of landlord tenant disputes could be avoided through better people management skills by landlords.
'The Act and its procedures often need to be considered at the extremes of behaviour, such as the tenant who trashes a property and leaves without paying rent, or the landlord who provides a property that is run down and hazardous.'
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