Checks on substandard rentals long overdue – Editorial

Tenancy officials have carried out spot inspections of student flats in Dunedin this week to check if they meet Healthy Homes Standards.

Editorial

• Government officials conducted spot checks on Dunedin student flats to ensure compliance with rental standards.
• The inspections prompted landlords to hastily address issues to meet the Residential Tenancies Act and Healthy Homes Standards.
• Calls for wider regulation of property managers continue, with emphasis on protecting tenants in sub-standard rentals.

Government rental tenancy officials swooped on some of Dunedin’s grottiest student flats this week, making spot checks on properties that might well have shocked even the more seasoned inspectors.

Landlords and property managers had prior warning that the Tenancy Compliance and Investigations Team (TCIT) were on the warpath. Wayward property managers have hastily carried out work that should have been done long ago so that their properties comply with the Residential Tenancies Act and meet Healthy Homes Standards.

This week, startled students answered knocks on the door from tenancy inspectors wanting to check if their flat was insulated, if there was an extractor fan in the bathroom, if draughts had been sealed and if the property manager was any good.

Rental tenancy inspectors have performed spot checks in places such as Dunedin's Castle St. Photo / NZME

But it is not just Dunedin’s university zone that needs to be the focus of TCIT, part of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). The team would do well to carry out spot checks in other areas of New Zealand where unscrupulous landlords and lackadaisical property managers take advantage of tenants who either don’t know their rights or are too afraid to complain.

Finding themselves with nowhere to live is often a worse option for tenants, particularly those with children, than putting up with a damp, mouldy house or an uninsulated garage. It is those tenants who need to be protected.

In Dunedin this week, the unannounced visits by the compliance team probably baffled some students, many of whom consider it a rite of passage to not only live in a rundown flat but to gradually destroy the place with unruly behaviour and out-of-hand parties.

And therein lies the dilemma. Landlords and property managers no doubt question the point of rebuilding the destroyed interiors of flats when there will be new holes in the walls by the following week.

However, there are many students who don’t want to live in hovels, and many landlords and property managers who take their responsibilities seriously. They make sure their properties are compliant and respond promptly to maintenance requests from tenants.

They want to see the cowboys gone, and lackadaisical property managers forced to do their jobs properly.

The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) has campaigned for regulation since 2019, but to date the industry has been left to rely on self-regulation and voluntary skills training.

Labour introduced the Residential Property Managers Bill during its last term in an attempt to introduce a code of professional conduct, compulsory licensing, and an independent complaints and disciplinary process.

But not everyone was in favour. The current Government got rid of the bill, saying it wanted to solve the housing crisis not add a layer of expense to the rental industry.

And some in the rental industry worried that the new legislation would add cost and an unwelcome layer of bureaucracy. However, most are in agreement that some sort of regulation is long overdue, not only to protect the industry but to protect tenants who find themselves stuck in sub-standard rentals.

It’s time for MBIE’s tenancy team to widen its ground offensive once it’s done with Dunedin, and for the Government to seriously consider regulating rental property managers.

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