New system saving time: Govt

The trial started in February, for big property management firms and Housing New Zealand.

It is designed to reduce the time it takes to resolve rent arrears disputes, which make up more than three-quarters of Tenancy Tribunal applications.

Instead of needing a full mediation, landlords and tenants who have an agreement about repayment of debt can have it formalised by a confirmation conversation. A pilot scheme found it cut the time taken to resolve applications from an average of 12 days to 48 hours.

It will eventually be available to all landlords and tenants.

The Department of Building and Housing said the implementation plan was on track and more high-volume users were being added.

“Of 711 Fasttrack applications received in our trials to date, 89.4% were formalised within 48 hours. This translates into 124.7 scheduled mediation days saved. We will be communicating later in the year when development of this service is completed and available to all landlords and tenants.”