Don't remove investor rights: NZPIF

The Green Party yesterday revealed its housing policy for the looming election, which centred on improving life for the country’s tenants.

Among the proposals are a rental property warrant of fitness, a $327 million scheme to insulate 200,000 homes, moves to improve security of tenure for renting households and $3 million of funding to help tenants taking action against substandard rental housing.

The NZPIF said there was no argument that some vulnerable families needed help, but a rental WOF scheme was not the way to do it and the cost of WOFs would be passed on to tenants. Executive officer Andrew King said only 7% of the tenancy who called the Tenancy Services helpline were worried about the condition of their houses. “It is not a widespread problem.”

The money that would be spent on a WOF scheme would be better going to cover things such as insulation, subsidised heating and tenant education, King said.

"A WOF is expensive, which will do nothing to help rental prices or overcrowding,”  he said.  "Insulation is one part of providing a healthy home, but heating and ventilation are also critical elements. If tenants can't afford to turn on heating now, how will a WOF help them?"

Making insulation a tax-deductible expense would cost the Government less than the Greens’ proposed insulation plan, King said. “The Government Insulation scheme that the Greens want to reintroduce appeared in the past to be really an insulation installers’ scheme. Installing insulation was too expensive even with the $1300 Government Grant. Many Property Investor Association members insulated their rentals without using the Government scheme because it was more cost effective to do this.”

Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei said the average renting household moved every two years.  The Green Party wanted tenants to be given the right of renewal on any tenancy.  “At the moment rentals are not homes for too many families. Lack of secure tenancy results in high rates of transience for our poorest kids and price gouging by landlords… We want good tenants who follow the rules to be able to stay in their home for the long term.”

The Greens would also include a formula for calculating future rent increases, which landlords would be able to implement no more than once a year.

King said most landlords kept their properties for the long term and appreciated long-term tenants. “Tenants only have to give three weeks’ notice to vacate a rental property. This flexibility is a significant benefit of renting. Giving them the right to also stay in the property as long as they like is taking away the rights of the rental property owner.”

He said owners with financial or health problems needed to be able to sell their properties, even if tenants did not want to move. "The NZPIF believes there are better ways to match tenants who want long term security of tenure with rental property owners who want long term tenants. But neither party should have more rights than the other."