The government has requested public feedback on proposals aimed at improving the lives of renters, Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford has announced.
Mr Twyford urged landlords, tenants and other interested parties to have their say on the proposals covered in a discussion document that was released today on reforming the Residential Tenancies Act.
“Our tenancy laws are antiquated and don’t reflect the fact that renting is now a long-term reality for many of our families. A third of all New Zealanders now rent,” he said in a statement.
“Insecure tenure can forcer families to continually move house. This is particularly tough on children whose education suffers when they have to keep changing schools.”
“We want to strike a balance between providing tenants with security of tenure and allowing them to make their house a home, while protecting the rights and interests of landlords.”
The discussion document and a link to an online submission survey are available here with consultation running for eight weeks before closing at 5pm, on Sunday 21 October 2018.
The minister said in a statement that the document covered the following proposals:
· ending no cause tenancy terminations while ensuring landlords can still get rid of rogue tenants
· increasing the amount of notice a landlord must generally give tenants to terminate a tenancy from 42 days to 90 days
· whether changes to fixed-term agreements are justified to improve security of tenure
· limiting rent increases to once a year
· whether there should be limitations on the practice of ‘rent bidding’
· whether the general obligations that tenants and landlords have remain fit for purpose
· better equipping tenants and landlords to reach agreement about pets and minor alternations to the home
· whether further controls for boarding houses are needed to provide adequate protection for boarding house tenants
· introducing new tools and processes into the compliance and enforcement system.
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