Thursday news in brief

Rental property WOF needed - Greens

The Green Party will introduce a comprehensive Warrant of Fitness (WOF) for rental properties and boost funding for home insulation, if elected, the party’s health spokesperson has announced.

Green MP Julie Anne Genter said that New Zealand children are being repeatedly hospitalised with preventable respiratory illnesses because much of the country’s housing stock is cold, damp, mouldy and not up to scratch.

“Warming up homes is such a simple solution to keep kids healthy, yet National has repeatedly cut funding for home insulation and refused to make landlords comply with reasonable standards in a warrant of fitness.”

The Green Party has long advocated for the introduction of a rental property WOF, but the NZ Property Investors Federation believes it would be cumbersome and costly to implement – and that the costs would be passed on to tenants.

Read more: Is a WOF scheme for private rentals really the way forward? 

Homeowners unfazed by mortgage bill rises

Over half (57.6%) of New Zealand homeowners are either not concerned by or are neutral about the prospect of future interest rate rises, a new survey by New Zealand Home Loans has revealed.

The survey, which involved 1,994 homeowners nationwide, was conducted after the Reserve Bank left the OCR on hold at 1.75% last month. While economists expect the OCR to stay put for some time, they also think mortgage rates will rise.

NZHL chief executive Julian Travaglia said it was refreshing to see that homeowners are not overawed by the prospect of future rate rises. “Because if we are to seriously tackle the amount of household debt we have as a nation, it is less about the actual interest rate and more about the rate home loans are paid off.”

People recognise they need to curb spending on unplanned items - which is a good thing, as it allows money to be channelled into their largest expense their mortgage, he said. “That rather than sweating about interest rates is a much clearer way to a future free of financial stress.”

Read more: Rate rises not prompting action 

Australian property valuer moves into NZ

Changes are afoot for New Zealand’s property valuation industry with the entry of Australian valuation company Opteon in to the market.

Opteon acquired a substantial stake in valuation company Sheldon & Partners Limited after buying Landmass Technology in 2015. It has now relaunched both under the Opteon brand to become New Zealand’s largest property valuation company by revenue.

The company’s New Zealand director of operations, Derek Smith, said they operate a client-first philosophy and aim to deliver faster and smarter client solutions via more data rich and cost-efficient valuation products and services.

He added that the changes they are introducing here are consistent with emerging dynamics in the Australian market and they plan to get out in front of changing client needs.

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