Government launches new tenancy services website

Building and Housing minister Nick Smith says that good information for both landlords and tenants on their legal responsibilities and how to resolve disputes is essential.

“This new website is about ensuring all the information is in one place and that it is as easy as possible to navigate.”

Market rent information for an area – which includes the number of bonds, the lower quartile, median and upper quartile for the area and dwelling types and dwelling sizes – can be accessed from the home page.

It also has all the tenancy and unit title information previously held on the Department of Building and Housing website.

Smith says the new website came about due to feedback indicating that people were not accessing services they were entitled to because they were not fully informed of their rights.

The government is focused on making it easier for landlords and tenants to interact with government online, he adds.

To this end, a number of initiatives to improve tenancy services are being rolled out.

These include last year’s introduction of online Tenancy Tribunal applications and the FastTrack Resolution service, which aims to resolve rent arrears disputes in a faster, more efficient way.

Next up will be the progressive rollout of a new online tenancy bond system from early 2016. It will enable landlords to lodge and pay tenancy bonds online.

The new website can be found at www.tenancy.govt.nz.