Lengthy delays to get rid of tenants
FIONA ROTHERHAM
Last updated 05:00 07/09/2011
Property investors claim they're losing money from delinquent tenants because of delays in getting hearings before the Tenancy Tribunal.
Landlords faced with tenants who are behind in paying their rent have to apply to the tribunal for an order to remove them.
They have to wait three weeks before they can make an application and, in the past, it would typically take about three to four weeks to get a tenant out, Property Investors Federation president Andrew King said.
Delays in getting hearings before the tribunal vary from about four weeks in Auckland to up to three months in regional areas such as Nelson, Blenheim and Timaru, he said.
King thinks a shortage of court time is causing the backlog and he's meeting later this week with the Department of Building & Housing to discuss the problem.
But the department has refuted King's figures saying their records show on average the longest delays are 28 days on the North Shore of Auckland and in Timaru. The average in Auckland was around 23 days.
The average waiting time for a hearing in Nelson and Blenheim was only 19 days, the department said.
Manager of client services Megan Martin said the department aimed to have 80 per cent of tenancy tribunal hearings held within 20 days of application but in recent months tougher economic conditions appeared to have caused an increase in tenants failing to pay their rent.
The department arranged two months ago with the Ministry of Justice to get an extra 10 per cent of court days nationwide - some 332 days - which could be used in any areas facing the longest delays in tribunal hearings.
The issue comes as an annual survey by the ANZ and the investors federation show tenants nationwide can expect higher rents this year with some 80 per cent of the 1800 landlords surveyed intending to increase rents this year by up to five per cent. Almost all intend increasing rents by an average 6 per cent to ten per cent within the next five years.
Nationally, rents rose 3 per cent last year, following Budget changes that removed the depreciation on investment property and some 26 per cent of those surveyed said they had lifted rents as a result of the Budget moves by between 2.5 per cent to 5 per cent.
But King said rental prices had not kept pace with inflation or the price of properties and rental rises were now overdue in many cases.
He also estimated the depreciation changes had cost investors about $45 a week and he expected about $15 per week of that would be recoverable through increased rents. He said Auckland was leading the charge for both increased rents and property prices but in other places such as Wellington there was resistance to paying more. There was also a trend towards more people living together to share the rent on one property.
FIONA ROTHERHAM
Last updated 05:00 07/09/2011
Property investors claim they're losing money from delinquent tenants because of delays in getting hearings before the Tenancy Tribunal.
Landlords faced with tenants who are behind in paying their rent have to apply to the tribunal for an order to remove them.
They have to wait three weeks before they can make an application and, in the past, it would typically take about three to four weeks to get a tenant out, Property Investors Federation president Andrew King said.
Delays in getting hearings before the tribunal vary from about four weeks in Auckland to up to three months in regional areas such as Nelson, Blenheim and Timaru, he said.
King thinks a shortage of court time is causing the backlog and he's meeting later this week with the Department of Building & Housing to discuss the problem.
But the department has refuted King's figures saying their records show on average the longest delays are 28 days on the North Shore of Auckland and in Timaru. The average in Auckland was around 23 days.
The average waiting time for a hearing in Nelson and Blenheim was only 19 days, the department said.
Manager of client services Megan Martin said the department aimed to have 80 per cent of tenancy tribunal hearings held within 20 days of application but in recent months tougher economic conditions appeared to have caused an increase in tenants failing to pay their rent.
The department arranged two months ago with the Ministry of Justice to get an extra 10 per cent of court days nationwide - some 332 days - which could be used in any areas facing the longest delays in tribunal hearings.
The issue comes as an annual survey by the ANZ and the investors federation show tenants nationwide can expect higher rents this year with some 80 per cent of the 1800 landlords surveyed intending to increase rents this year by up to five per cent. Almost all intend increasing rents by an average 6 per cent to ten per cent within the next five years.
Nationally, rents rose 3 per cent last year, following Budget changes that removed the depreciation on investment property and some 26 per cent of those surveyed said they had lifted rents as a result of the Budget moves by between 2.5 per cent to 5 per cent.
But King said rental prices had not kept pace with inflation or the price of properties and rental rises were now overdue in many cases.
He also estimated the depreciation changes had cost investors about $45 a week and he expected about $15 per week of that would be recoverable through increased rents. He said Auckland was leading the charge for both increased rents and property prices but in other places such as Wellington there was resistance to paying more. There was also a trend towards more people living together to share the rent on one property.
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