18 Nov 2019

Changes in rental law would help restore power imbalance, says tenant

7:35 pm on 18 November 2019

Proposed changes to tenancy laws will go some way in better balancing the relationship between tenant and landlord, says one renter.

No caption

Photo: 123RF

Under the new laws, landlords would have to explain why they want to evict tenants and give three examples to justify it to the tenancy tribunal.

Associate Housing Minister Kris Faafoi said it will end no-cause evictions.

The property Investors' Federation said the proposal is well-intentioned, but misguided and and National's housing spokesperson Judith Collins said landlords will quit the market due to the proposed law changes.

But lobby-group Renters United said landlords have nothing to fear from the changes.

One tenant, who does not want to be named, has had to move out of 3-properties despite having glowing references from each landlord.

She said having to move each time had nothing to do with being a bad tenant.

''I can see sometimes where from some landlords point of view you do want people to leave and I see in each of those instances they were good reasons, they had their own personal reasons for doing what they needed to do, it's just I think the changes bring things back into balance a little more for the tenants.''

She said renters often get a raw deal.

''Really it is case by case, but yeah I think renting is quite expensive, a lot of the properties are not great and there is a real power imbalance there.''

She said finding new accommodation is very difficult.

''Certainly was the last two times and I don't have any pets or anything and I can imagine it would be really difficult if you did have pets. There is not a lot around and you are competing against everybody else looking at the place.''

One landlord, who prefers to keep a property empty rather than rent it out said it is just not worth his while having to deal with tenants.

The man, who wants to remain anonymous said that after renting a property out for 14-years he became disillusioned with being a landlord.

He said the proposed law changes, making it harder to evict tenants, proves he has made the right decision.

He said he was lied to by tenants and had to spend a lot of money repairing damage done by tenants who left at short notice.

''I trusted these people to rent the property and look after it and then when they lie to you you become pretty disheartened in the whole process.''

He sold that property and then purchased another property which he is now living in.

''The property that I vacated I am going to leave empty. I can't be bothered going through the whole process of tenancies basically.''

He said the proposed law changes have only proved to him he made the right call, and he is not losing any money leaving the property empty.

''I have for go (sic) rental income just so I don't have to have the added stress, worry and cost of renting out again. I'm just going to sit on this property and let it go up (in value) and it will still do better financially than money in the bank as an investment.''

A man who has lived next door to a rental property and experienced what he calls a 'living hell' said under the proposed changes it appears getting rid of the tenants might become a lot more difficult.

The tenants were young people who treated the property as a party-house.

''It is going to hit neighbourhoods and families, so for that reason I think they need to be very careful about just how they are going about any of these adjustments...It is all very well painting landlords as the big baddies but there are a number of situations, such as we experienced, where the only redress was, basically that the tenancy agreement that was able to be terminated.''

He said one way around the problem could be a trial period for a tenant and before the agreement becomes long term, neighbours could be consulted.

''You don't want to pander to all neighbours, some neighbours get upset at the sound of a cat meowing, so obviously you have to have some balance there."

The Real Estate Institute supports many of the changes being proposed, such as a ban on rental bidding and limiting rental increases to once a year.

It does oppose changes to the no-cause, 90-day termination notice

Institute CEO, Bindi Norwell said it is a necessary protection for landlords.

''When landlords have potentially an anti-social tenant or a tenant that is actually damaging their property and some times with tens of thousands of dollars of damage, you need to be able to deal with this quite quickly and to actually remove this and have to go to a tenancy tribunal could slow down the process and really disadvantage landlords that are dealing with these kind of tenants.''

She said the last thing the country needs is to deter investment in rental properties.

The proposals now go to a Parliamentary select committee for consultation.