Rules have property managers in sights

• Published date: 24 November 2022
• Publication title: Southland Express

Landlords will now have another year to get their rentals up to healthy home standards — including Kainga Ora and community housing providers

Housing Minister Megan Woods said COVID-19 supply chain issues had stunted compliance.

The public would also be consulted on new rules on methamphetamine residue levels and how tenancies can be terminated if the property was unsafe.

‘‘Nearly 600,000 households rent in New Zealand and these measures will result in regulated oversight of residential property managers, science-based rules on meth residue testing and a reprieve for landlords in meeting a compliance deadline,’’ Ms Woods said in a statement.

‘‘The government aims to ensure every New Zealander has a warm, dry, and safe place to call home, regardless of whether they own or rent. These initiatives build on the important work we’ve already done in the rental sector which all ultimately serve to improve the lives and outcomes of renting New Zealanders and their whanau.’’

Ms Woods said complaints about property managers would be dealt with through a new regulatory framework.

Given 42% of rentals were looked after by property managers, it was important to have regulations in place given the access they have to homes.

‘‘Sometimes tenants are vulnerable to poor behaviour from residential property managers, especially in a tight rental market. Following our moves to give tenants more protection through the Residential Tenancies Act, we made a manifesto commitment in 2020 to regulate residential property managers.’’

‘‘This means that like many other professions such as real estate agents, builders and lawyers, they will have conduct and competency standards to abide by and if they don’t...