Consultation on proposed RTA changes

[AlFa]

It sounds like a commercial lease which is already an option in NZ if anyone wanted to do it.

yep it closely resembles commercial lease but you can't use in NZ for residential property

[Perry]

When is a Heater Not a Heater?



Complaints show problem with heaters in rentals
9 October 2018

Complaints that 15,000 heaters installed in Housing New Zealand properties don’t heat looks like an epic blunder and shows a problem with forcing private rental property owners to provide heaters, Tenancies War spokesman Mike Butler said today.

Yesterday, TVNZ News reported complaints that the 2000-watt electric convection panel heaters took too long to warm up the living room and tenants resorted to using either electric fan, oil-filled, or radiant heaters that they were already accustomed to.

The blunder was reported during the submission period on proposals to require rental property owners to provide heaters for rental properties, as well as to install additional insulation, extractor fans for kitchens and bathrooms, under-floor polythene sheets to stop rising damp, and draught-proofing tape around windows and doors.

“There was no mention in the news item whether the heaters were tested before installation”, Mr Butler said.
A test may be performed by anyone with a thermometer and is done by closing windows, curtains and doors of a room and powering up the heater to see how long it takes to reach 18C, which is the “healthy” standard adopted by the Government.

“Surprisingly, a 2400-watt electric fan heater costing just $30 will heat a State-house living room to the required 18C on a winter night, so there should be no drama forcing rental property owners to install expensive heaters that may attract complaints as happened with Housing New Zealand properties”, Mr Butler said.

“No evidence other than reference to a World Health Organisation standard has been provided to prove that anyone is in peril if the temperature in their environment falls below 18C”, Mr Butler said.

“Moreover, the preference by tenants for electric fan, oil-filled, or radiant heaters mentioned in the TVNZ report shows the folly of imposing a one-heater-suits-all requirement on owners of rental property, as Housing New Zealand has already found out”, Mr Butler said.

“The best way forward for the Housing Minister is to leave it to us to work out the best way to keep warm during winter and that has never been a problem up to now”, Mr Butler said.

“Most New Zealand houses haven’t changed and the climate is supposed to be warming”, Mr Butler said.

“The only changes have been the ban on open fires in urban areas following the 2004 new National Standards for Air Quality, as well as meteoric increases in the price of electricity, which nearly doubled in the 10 years from 2004, he said.

The Stop the War on Tenancies group aims to empower both owners and tenants in the face of ongoing Government ineptitude with housing.

See: Housing NZ tenants complain about ineffective heaters.

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/housing-nz-tenants-complain-ineffective-heaters

Contact Mike Butler (027) 2777 295
Email: [email protected]

[Bob Kane]

Also, do tenants pay the rates and insurance premiums in Germany?

A google search indicates that German tenants pay insurance and possibly rates as well.
If NZ goes the German way then tenants can expect an additional $4-5000 expense pa - $100 week on top of rent.
Also, in Germany, tenants can pay 12 weeks bond - that would be a huge improvement for landlords if we followed suit.
Another huge improvement that German landlords have is in the definition of damage to the premises - stains on walls, cigarette burns on carpet or damage to floors from pointy heels is not considered normal wear and tear and tenants can be asked to fund the repairs.
So the call to follow the German example has some benefits for landlords.

No doubt Twyford is planning to include these changes for landlords in the new RTA?

[PC]

Perhaps the guvmnt could follow the AirBnB model.
Offer US$1M of insurance to cover any tenant damage.
Paid for by a levy on rent.

Something positive to encourage investment & reduce rents?
Oops - maybe not...

[Perry]

On Missing The Target Altogether


Mr Twyford's reforms don't touch on any actual issues between owners and tenants.

Tenancy reforms miss the main point - unpaid rent

Evidence obtained on Friday under the Official Information Act shows that Housing Minister Phil Twyford's tenancy law tinkering misses the main issue, which is unpaid rent, Tenancies War spokesman Mike Butler said today.

The information release by Tenancy Services came just days before the deadline for submissions on tenancy law reforms on October 21, and on extra standards on October 22.

For the 2017-18 financial year there were 35,581 applications to the Tenancy Tribunal, with 31,031 lodged by rental property owners or managers, and of these, 25,329 applications were over unpaid rent, according to Tenancy Services.

Mr Twyford's proposed changes to tenancy law would prevent owners from ending tenancies contractually, ban fixed-term tenancies, give tenants the right to modify a property, allow tenants to keep pets as of right, and enable Government officials to enter boarding houses at any time.

Persistent unpaid rent which makes up 72 percent of total applications to the Tenancy Tribunal is the elephant in the room - a problem that the Minister is either unaware of or refuses to acknowledge, Mr Butler said.

Unpaid rent is bad for owners, who must forego income, and bad for tenants, who will have a black mark on their credit history, he said.

The New Zealand Property Investor's Federation has suggested stronger law around unpaid rent which could mean charging interest on unpaid rent, the ability to charge tenants' credit cards, or exemplary damages for refusal to pay rent, Mr Butler said.

Tenancy Services also revealed that owners and managers had filed 1118 notices to quit, 158 for unlawful activity, 95 for failure to allow entry, and 77 for assault.

Tenants had filed 270 notices to quit, 14 for unlawful activity, one for failure to allow entry, and 13 for assault.

Tenants had also filed 668 notices to do with breaches of quiet enjoyment (owners 1 and 338 retaliatory notices (owners 1).

The worst case occurred last year when a property manager and her daughter were murdered at a property near Whangarei while visiting for an inspection and to install smoke alarms.

See: Northland shooting - Mother and daughter die (gunned down by a tenant!)

Unpaid rent, notices to quit, unlawful activity, failure to allow entry, and assault are the actual issues between owners and tenants, Mr Butler said, and Mr Twyford's reforms don't touch on any of these.

Considering that there are 588,700 rental properties in New Zealand, the 35,581 disputes represented only six percent of the total tenancies in operation last year, Mr Butler said. This shows that tenancies on the whole run pretty smoothly.

A request under the Official Information Act to the Minister about additional standards that will require owners to provide and maintain heat pumps, install additional insulation, extractor fans for kitchens and bathrooms, install under-floor polythene sheets to stop rising damp, and place draught-proofing tape around all windows and doors has not been responded to.

Both requests for information were sent in around September 12.

The group Stop the War on Tenancies aims to empower both owners and tenants in the face of ongoing Government ineptitude with housing.

Contact
Mike Butler - (027) 2777 295
[email protected]


See also:
Lies, Damned Lies, Statistics & Political Spin

[Perry]

Read & Weep

'Bucket toilet' for garage tenants: The vulnerable Kiwis reforms won't help
16 Oct 2018

Shamubeel Eaqub, who argued for a rental market overhaul in his book Generation Rent, said the review seemed aimed at finding a middle ground "It's trying to shift from a very landlord-leaning Act to one that finds a better balance."

What little respect I may've had, has evaporated on the basis of that moronic quote.

[Wayne]

What little respect I may've had, has evaporated on the basis of that moronic quote.

Shamubeel Eaqub lost my respect when he went to a voice for hire - just makes noise to get $.

[AlFa]

'Bucket toilet' for garage tenants: The vulnerable Kiwis reforms won't help
16 Oct 2018


What little respect I may've had, has evaporated on the basis of that moronic quote.

Shmuqub is just an ordinary pratt vocally supporting whatever is in trend at the moment. He really should have been a journalist or a prostitute.

[Bob Kane]

Shmuqub is just an ordinary pratt vocally supporting whatever is in trend at the moment. He really should have been a journalist or a prostitute.

He is a journalist and prostitute.
The economic stuff is a side-issue in an attempt to maintain some credibility.

[flyernzl]

The government is in the process of introducing some drastic changes to residential tenancy. If you are a #landlord you cannot afford not to understand what is at stake. NZ Property Investors' Federation EO Andrew King talks about what these changes are. Watch and share!
Take a look at our landlord resource pack if you want to make your own submission www.apia.org.nz/submit.

[Perry]

Any report on the Dunedin conference, Flyer?

[artemis]

Yesterday, Ms Collins asked a series of oral questions of Mr Twyford on the current consultations. Interesting reading Mr Twyford's non-answers, on one of which the Speaker told him to actually answer the question. Link to the narrative below, it is a quick read. Couple of examples, in which Mr Twyford has been told impacts will be minor on the housing market and rents. Mr Twyford did not say what 'minor' means but I expect Ms Collins will be enquiring. Regularly.

Hon Judith Collins: Has he seen advice from MBIE that cumulative changes may lead landlords to sell their rental properties and leave the housing market?

Hon PHIL TWYFORD: The advice from MBIE makes it clear that the policy changes that the member is asking about should have minor effects on the housing market. Landlords, of course, will make their own commercial decisions. However, if a landlord does sell, that property will either be bought by a first-home buyer or another landlord.
....
Hon Judith Collins: Thank you. When he announced his changes to the Residential Tenancies Act, was he aware that officials had advised him that supply in rental accommodation would decrease and lead to increased costs for tenants?

Hon PHIL TWYFORD: I was aware of advice that said that the effects of our reforms were likely to be minor, and that houses that were sold by landlords, for example, who are over-leveraged, or who owned rental properties that were in such poor condition that it would be too expensive to bring them up to the Healthy Homes guarantee standards—those homes would be sold on, either to renters or to other owner-occupiers, and that any effect on rents would be likely to be minor.

https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/document/HansS_20181016_051750000/4-question-no-4-housing-and-urban-development

[Perry]

. . . Pants on Fire

In reply to Judith Collins, Phil Twyford: I was aware of advice that said that the effects of our reforms were likely to be minor, . . .

Liar. When advised . . .

Advice in a late-April paper produced for Twyford by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment Housing Minister said that Phil Twyford's package of tenancy law reforms would likely drive up rents by causing some landlords to get out of the market, officials have told him.

Officials said while most of the tenancy law overhaul and other changes to the rental market considered by the Government would not have much of an effect on their own, their cumulative weight could lead some landlords to sell their properties to owner-occupiers.

Because owner-occupiers typically have less people in a house than renters, this could lead to a further shortage in rental properties - and higher rents.

. . . then why did Dhil Twitford say that the advice was "only a scenario" and he "was not assuming that is going to happen."

Have a quick read here, Dhil.The same Dhil Twitford who averred that

Some of these kids at Treasury are fresh out of University and they're completely disconnected from reality.

Just who's disconnected from reality? Dhil, who promised 10,00 KiwiBuilds a year and managed less than 20 in year one? Or those who cast doubts on his grand dreams and schemes?

In reply to Judith Collins, Phil Twyford: . . .and that houses that were sold by landlords, for example, who are over-leveraged, or who owned rental properties that were in such poor condition that it would be too expensive to bring them up to the Healthy Homes guarantee standards - those homes would be sold on, either to renters or to other owner-occupiers, and that any effect on rents would be likely to be minor.

Poor condition houses will be sold on!

No Healthy Homes Guarantee from Dhil for the suckers who buy them, eh? That's presuming they can get mortgage finance. Oh, that's right. The very name is also a lie! It's actually the Healthy Rentals guarantee standards.

[flyernzl]

Any report on the Dunedin conference, Flyer?

Its in the queue.

[Perry]

Oh, no! More reality checks for the cranially challenged and vacuous socialists.

Wellington homes sell for record high, outpace NZ spring property fling
17 Oct 2018

Special Housing Areas were supposed to help young families into affordable homes, but research found they increased the cost of housing.