Press Release from the Green Party
Wednesday, September 25, 2019 – 08:00
The Green Party is welcoming the Real Estate Institute’s campaign to change property management rules, launched today.
“We’ll be looking to meet with industry leaders to discuss how we can make progress together,” said Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson.
“People who rent deserve their homes to be safe and secure and to be treated with dignity,
“Property managers have a lot of power over tenants with no rules about how they can and can’t behave. This needs to change,
“Unethical behaviour by some property managers includes allegations of extortion, false reporting, privacy breaches and other unacceptable conduct,
“This leads to poor housing outcomes for many renters including some of our most vulnerable communities,
“Working with the industry to put in place proper regulation will help solve this problem.
ENDS
Notes for editors
Today the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand has launched the ‘Call for Change’ campaign: https://www.acallforchange.co.nz/
Over 30 organisations currently support the campaign, including Consumer NZ, Salvation Army, Property Council NZ, Habitat for Humanity, Renters United, Tenants Protection Association, and the Citizens Advice Bureau.
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Green co-leader Marama Davidson says the Government focused too much on KiwiBuild at the expense of fixing the rental market.
Davidson is meeting with Associate Housing Minister Kris Faafoi on Wednesday night to discuss the matter, following a new push from the real estate industry to regulate property managers.
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Marama Davidson says rental law changes need to be a priority over KiwiBuild.
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Then-housing Minister Phil Twyford sent out these ideas for consultation in mid-2018, saying the law would be in place in 2020, but almost a year on from consultation ending no draft bill has been produced.
The Government’s proposed changes to rental laws include an end to no-cause tenancy terminations, and a limit in rent increases to once a year.
Davidson, who launched the proposals with Twyford, said this wasn’t good enough.
“It’s not happening fast enough, at all…It hasn’t been the priority so far,” Davidson said.
“Honestly, KiwiBuild has been the priority – I think that is very clear.”
“These are urgent changes we can make. And for far too long the market and has had power and people haven’t.”
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The 2018 census figures showed 527,853 households were renting, roughly a third of all households.
Davidson said this number was only going to go up and renting had to be a “valid way of life”.
“Renting cannot be a second-class option for people. Renting has to be a valid way of life. Around the world we’ve seem places with really strong rights for tenants have worked out really, really, well.”
She welcomed a new campaign led by the Real Estate Industry of New Zealand to increase regulations on property managers.
Faafoi told Stuff on Tuesday he was hoping to introduce a bill by the end of the year.
He said it was important to make sure that the Government got “all parties” onboard and that he had been meeting with the sector to get his head around the issue.
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Green Party Housing Policy.
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