Rental laws get modern upgrade
The Government will end no-cause evictions in a reset of rental laws, writes Henry Cooke.
The Government will end nocause evictions and ban rental bidding in an upcoming reset of rental laws.
It will also limit rent rises to once a year, up from the current limit of once every six months.
These changes will be made well over a year since thenhousing minister Phil Twyford finished consulting on them in October 2018.
They will be announced at an event later today, alongside a wider package of reform, by new Public Housing Minister Kris Faafoi, who has responsibility for rental laws.
‘‘These reforms of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 deliver on the Government’s promise to address outdated rules for rental accommodation, and are part of our plan, in conjunction with our coalition partners, to improve wellbeing for many new Zealanders who rent their homes,’’ Faafoi told Sunday Star-Times.
Currently, landlords can end periodic tenancies without cause as long as they give tenants 90 days’ notice. If a landlord wishes to move into or sell the property, that notice period can be halved to 42 days.
Under the Government’s planned changes, landlords will have to provide some reason to end the tenancy – including selling the property, demolishing it, or changing how it is used.
They will also be able to use a new ‘‘antisocial behaviour’’ clause to move on problematic tenants if three complaints are received about the tenant’s behaviour in a 90-day period and an application is made to the tenancy tribunal.
Rent being paid more than five working days late three times or more in a 90-day period would also be a valid reason, although this too would require a trip to the tribunal.
When a tenancy is ended for a valid reason, such as a landlord selling a house, they will now need to provide 63 days’ notice – up from 42.
Rent rises will be limited to once a year, up from six months now.
And ‘‘rental bidding’’ would be explicitly banned, and landlords listing properties will have to explicitly set out what the rent is. Serious changes to rental laws were a key feature of Labour’s campaign, which focused heavily on housing.
After coming to Government, the party moved swiftly to ban letting fees pass ‘‘healthy homes’’ standards for rental properties, although these have not kicked in yet.
It is understood Faafoi has been concerned about getting the