Latest changes in the bill “could cause more harm than good” to both landlords and tenants
Trade organisations have expressed concern over the passage of the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill 2020 in the House last week.
The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) has warned that the bill will most likely cause more harm than good, not only to landlords but also tenants.
Bindi Norwell, the chief executive of REINZ, noted a recent survey revealing that 46.3% of landlords and investors would most likely sell their rental property upon the removal of the 90-day no-cause termination.
“While the act will achieve some positive things for tenants, the reality is that there are likely now to be a number of unintended consequences that arise as a result of the bill passing,” said Norwell.
“Given we already have a shortage of quality rental stock across the country, this is problematic as it will further reduce the pool of rental properties available and likely push up rents even further.”
Read more: REINZ warns tenants without “excellent” record
With median rents rising in Auckland and Wellington, tenants may suffer if more landlords withdraw from the market due to the RTA bill. Tenants without “excellent” rental history might also have a hard time finding tenancies in the future, said Norwell.
“Our feedback, and feedback from other property professionals, has largely been disregarded, and now things may start to get extremely difficult for rental property owners as they will have limited abilities to remove tenants who are causing problems in their rental properties or causing trouble with neighbours,” Norwell continued.
Sharon Cullwick, the executive officer of the NZ Property Investors' Federation (NZPIF), added: “Private landlords will no longer be able to protect people living next door to loud, obnoxious, and potentially violent privately housed tenants. It can already be difficult to manage tenants behaving badly, and this will make it even harder while putting neighbours at risk.”
