Our ‘ugly’ rental market
Kiwi tenants aren’t just cold and damp, they feel powerless, as well.
As the polls close on September 23, I’ll be getting on a plane to stay with my little sister in New York. It has been a few years and I miss her. After the subway ride into town we’ll arrive at her family’s tiny apartment near SoHo, set up the inflatable beds on the loungeroom floor, take turns in the kitchen and every morning for 10 days, step out smack, bang into the exhilarating buzz of Manhattan. Their place is no larger than a studio, but they’ve made it a home in the five years they’ve been there, added layers of comfort, put up galleries of family pictures. They look after the place as if it’s their own, and they’re planning to stay for as long as their family can fit in the space. If anything breaks down, they call the super, who comes right up from his apartment on the ground floor. If he doesn’t come up, my sister can withhold rent until the repairs are made, or she can ‘‘repair and deduct’’ (hire a tradesperson, pay them, and deduct the cost). Under State law, they can’t be evicted unless they fail to pay their rent. The rent goes up by $100 a month each year, agreed when the lease is signed. If they sign up to a longer lease they get a discount. My sister tells me about a friend on the Upper East Side, who’s lived in her massive apartment for 20 years and pays a paltry $1800 a month. The landlord values the steady tenancy, and knows that if she leaves, he must refurbish the apartment before the next tenancy. Not worth it. Landlords (the good ones, anyway) know that security of tenancy means good things for both parties. How different it is here in New Zealand, where the rental market is quickly becoming a battleground. With home ownership rates falling, the number of people renting will soar in the next couple of decades. And yet there’s no sign of the kind of ‘‘partnership’’ understanding that works so well in other parts of the world. This week action group Renters United released the ‘‘People’s Review on Renting’’. The tales of sickness and its effect on their quality of life were expected; we know much of our housing stock is cold and damp. But many also reported a feeling of powerlessness. Renters United spokeswoman Kate Day said renters feel afraid to challenge landlords for fear they’ll be kicked out or that their rent will be put up. The laws we have are only enforced if a renter brings a complaint and if you’re scared of what will happen, then you just won’t, she says.
The group’s calling for ‘‘no-fault’’ eviction to be dumped, for all landlords to be registered and subject to a code of conduct. It wants rent rises pegged to increases in the minimum wage, and a Commissioner for Housing established to oversee the market. Then, finally, renters will be able to put down roots in their communities and know they won’t be homeless in three months if the landlord changes their mind.
The Property Investors Association calls all of this ‘‘crazy.’’ It’s head, Andrew King, insists the laws are heavily in favour of the renters. If a tenant asks for a repair and the landlord doesn’t comply, he says, there’s $3000 in exemplary damages waiting at the Tenancy Tribunal – a huge incentive for a renter to take a complaint. But he also says the vast majority of cases before the Tribunal are taken by landlords, not tenants, the suggestion being that tenants are mostly to blame in disputes that make it that far. Analyse that for a moment and it could equally prove Renters United’s point.
They can’t both be right. The tussle is becoming ugly and adversarial.
One of my work colleagues, a family man with three kids, said it best this week. His lease ends in October, his family have no idea whether they’ll be out on the street, and they don’t want to rock the boat by asking.
Most renters are honest people who will keep a house tidy, mow the lawns and pull the weeds, he says.
They deserve to be able to put family photos up on the walls. They deserve to be able to paint a kid’s bedroom a nice, bright colour. They deserve not to have to face rent rises every six months. They deserve to be able to call the house they live in, their home.
Ali Mau is the host of RadioLIVE Drive, 3-6pm weekdays