NZ tenants want pets after sweeping reforms in Victoria

Sandra Rickey, with Paws, experienced difficulties finding rental accommodation due to her pet ownership. Photo/Stuart Munro

New Zealand tenants are supporting an Australian state's move to allow all tenants to have pets, saying they'd like the same here.

Robert Whitaker of Renters United backed Victoria's major tenant reforms which would allow every tenant to have a pet.

"We would definitely support people having the right ot have pets. It's very, very difficult for tenants to find a place if they have a pet and many landlords just prescribe 'no pets'," Whitaker said.

The ABC in Australia has reported that every tenant in Victoria would have the right to have a pet in their rental property under sweeping reforms to the state's tenancy rules.

Whitaker said it was wrong that pets were banned from most New Zealand rentals.

"Pets are an integral part of New Zealand culture. People like cats and dogs," he said.

Andrew King, NZ Property Investors Federation executive officer, said today he does not favour more tenants here having pets, mainly due to property damage.

"The landlord is now responsible for paying for tenants' accidental damage because of the Osaki case," he said referring to a judicial ruling that the landlords' insurer must pay when a tenant burnt a house to the ground - not the tenants' insurer.

"The landlord might be able to claim on their insurance, but they are still responsible," King said.

King said landlords often did not want to rent to tenants with pets due to the damage caused by animals, including issues with carpets, skirting boards and other areas of a house.

"A lot of properties are just not suitable for pets. A lot of it is to do with the damage," he said.

"Also in New Zealand, a landlord is responsible for their tenants' behaviour towards neighbours and other tenants."

However, he said allowing pets used to be a good thing as tenants really appreciated it so the relationship was good and tenants tended to stay for longer.

"The federation would be responsive to looking at ways to make it easier for tenants to have pets."

Whitaker said he backed other aspects of the Victorian reform including longer leases and smaller bonds.

"It's indicative of what's happening with longer term renting," he said.

The Wanganui Chronicle reported in August on the situation of tenant Sandra Rickey, who owns a cat and a dog. She has had great difficulty finding a house to rent.

Her pet troubles began after the June 2015 floods when her home was washed out, meaning she, son Ben, elderly friend Allan, dog Flea and cat Paws had to find rental accommodation in a hurry.

"Our landlord didn't want tenants with animals, but I paid an extra $10 a week for Flea and had the carpets cleaned," Rickey said.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's Tenancy Services provides information about tenants and pets.

A landlord wanting to charge an extra bond if a tenant has a pet, allowing tenants to have pets and tenant responsibility for pet damage are covered.