POLITICAL & REGULATORY REPORT for July 2010
POLITICAL & REGULATORY REPORT for July 2010
POLITICAL & REGULATORY REPORT for July 2010
Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill – Passed
During the month (20 July) the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill completed its third and final reading stages through Parliament.
To recap, the new legislation aims to:
- Encourage the development of a rental market that provides stable, quality housing to those who rent their homes
- Enable landlords to manage their properties more effectively
- clarify and appropriately balance tenant and landlord rights obligations
Key provisions of the legislation include:
- Including boarding houses
- Clarifying the responsibility for outgoings
- Clearer and fairer processes for terminating and renewing tenancies
- Increasing the value of existing fines and exemplary damages and introducing new sanctions
- Increasing the Tribunal’s monetary jurisdiction
- Improving the enforceability of Tribunal orders
Advocacy from the Federation successfully eliminated from the legislation proposals for:
- Tenant advocates in Tenancy Tribunal hearings
- Limiting tenant liability for damage to four weeks rent and
- Landlords to disclose to tenants if a property had been subject to a local body cleansing order as a result of a ‘P’ lab
The Governor General will set a commencement date for the new laws later this year once supporting regulations have been approved and published.
REVIEW OF LAND TRANSFER ACT – Law Com report
On 20 July the Law Commission’s report on the review of the Land Transfer Act 1952 was published.
Of interest to the Federation was the proposal to replace the law with a modern, more accessible Act that will simplify and consolidate the legislation. The new Act would reflect that the system of land registration is now almost exclusively electronic and will make some technical, operational changes.
Some recommended improvements include:
- Giving the court limited discretion, in the event of fraud or other illegality, to restore a landowner’s registered title in rare cases where such intervention is warranted to avoid a manifestly unjust result
- Reinforcing the obligations of lenders to properly verify landowner identity for mortgage purposes
- Clarifying the scope of the Registrar-General of Land’s powers of correction
- Providing new mechanisms for noting land covenants where the benefit attaches to a person rather than other land.
The Government’s response to the Law Commission paper is expected by November.
Courts and Criminal Matters Bill – Submission drafted
Written submissions to the Law and Order select committee considering the Courts and Criminal Matters Bill closed on 9 July.
The Federation sees an opportunity for the Government to address and remedy a long term problem identified by landlords namely improving the enforcement of tenancy tribunal orders, so that it is easier for landlords to recover the costs of fixing damaged property and collecting rent arrears from their former tenants.
Warm Healthy Rental Bill – Greens Bill
Green Party Housing spokesperson Gareth Hughes is promoting a private member’s bill: The Warm Healthy Rental Bill to “help ensure that everyone has a warm home”. Specifically, the bill seeks to ensure that all New Zealand's rental homes meet basic standards for warmth and insulation by 2018.
In a press statement Hughes noted:
“Landlords will benefit by having the value of their properties increased when they insulate them, and it will encourage them to take advantage of the $323 million home insulation scheme that the Greens set up”.
Hughes is hoping that the Government will support his bill, however this looks unlikely at this stage.
Published: August 2010
