Property managers call for more information
The Government’s announcement that rental property managers will be regulated has left the industry asking for more detail, and tenants calling for landlords to be regulated too.
Regulating property managers was one of the Labour Party’s campaign promises at the previous election,.
Earlier this year the Government proposed a licensing scheme, and yesterday Housing Minister Megan Woods announced a new regulatory system for the industry.
It would involve compulsory registration and licensing for both individual property managers and their organisations, training and entry requirements, practice standards, and a complaints and disciplinary process.
It would be administered by the Real Estate Authority, but it was not clear whether that would mean that all property managers would have to join the Real Estate Institute, Residential Property Managers Association chairman David Pearse said.
‘‘If so, that could be a big step back for the industry, as we are currently looking at setting higher standards for property managers than there is under the institute.’’
Property Brokers general manager of property management David Faulkner said regulation was hugely important for the industry, was the right thing to do, and offered better protection for consumers.
‘‘It will mean there will be less and less property managers who are prepared to take the risk of managing non-compliant rental properties.’’
But he would like more detail around industry entry requirements because the better educated a property manager was the better they would perform, he said.
‘‘It has been a long journey to get to this point, and, with an election next year, it is important the National Party supports this too.’’
Private landlords who managed their own property were a large part of the rental sector, and they should be regulated too, Renters United president Geordie Rogers said.
Property Investors Federation vice-president Peter Lewis said it was appropriate that self-managing property owners would not be subject to regulation. It was not suitable for the New Zealand market at this stage, and the federation had created its own landlord education programme.
‘‘More generally, we are in favour of property managers being regulated because they handle other people’s money, and there should be checks and balances around that.
‘‘Regulation is not a cure-all for the industry though, and nor is it a guarantee of good behaviour.’’