A BETTER FUTURE FOR RENTERS!

A Better Future for Renters is our vision for a fairer rental system in Aotearoa. You can read the full document here.

This builds on our 2018 Plan to Fix Renting and responds to the results of the 2026 Aotearoa Renters Survey. Since we released the Plan to Fix Renting in 2018, Several of our proposals became law, including the abolition of no-cause evictions and letting fees, but the National-led coalition government has overseen a rights rollback.

A Better Future for Renters sets out a series of tangible actions that can be implemented to rebalance the scales for renters here in Aotearoa. Over the next 12 months we will be releasing a series of policy papers that go deeper into these asks to show exactly how these mechanisms would work and

1. Lower the Rent

Force landlords to negotiate rent increases with their tenants

Requiring landlords to state reasons for any rent increase in writing, giving tenants 21 days to object. If the tenant chooses to challenge the increase, they are then free to negotiate with the landlord.
If parties can’t agree, the landlord must apply to the Tribunal for a hearing to determine the rent, before any increase can be applied.
At the Tribunal, there will be a reverse onus on the landlord to prove the increase is justified.

Freeze the rent

Establish a 12-month rent freeze for residential properties, giving tenants the chance to catch up.

Independent market rent assessments

Fund councils to conduct independent rent assessments that draw on more than just MBIE’s bond data. An assessment should consider the state of the particular property in relation to the regional market.
A tenant can use this data to apply to the Tribunal for a rent decrease (if applicable) or use it to challenge any increase.

Affordable rent guidelines

MBIE in partnership with community organisations should publish annual guidelines for acceptable rent increases.
These guidelines should factor in real changes to wages and benefits, and support landlords to select fair rents that ensure housing costs do not rise above inflation.

2. Level the Playing Field

End 90-day no-cause evictions and protect renters

Renters must have security of tenure, and where eviction does occur, landlords must state robust reasons for termination.
Anonymise the names of all renters in Tenancy Tribunal decisions.

Strengthen mediation

Establish mediation by default in all tenancy disputes.
Ensure mediation adopts a housing-as sacrosanct approach that places the tenant retaining a safe home as its first priority.
Scrap the $29 application fee for renters.
Align the powers of tenancy and employment mediators, to ensure the former don’t have the power to enforce consequences against tenants.
Grant the Tribunal investigatory powers, so the burden of proof doesn’t fall solely on ill equipped landlords and renters.

3. Establish Tenants’ Unions

Renters United recommends:

Establishing a legal definition for tenants’ unions and creating legislation that allows them to collectively bargain.
Adopting a similar model to collective bargaining under the Employment Relations Act 2000, renters would be able to join a union and cooperatively negotiate for increased conditions and lower rents.
Unions would represent tenants with a specific property management company or those renting in buildings controlled by a single entity, e.g. a boarding house.
This model will cost renters nothing and be funded in part by the interest gathered on bonds, as discussed later.

4. Fund Tenant Advocacy

Renters United recommends:

All interest generated from tenant bonds should be distributed annually to tenant unions, with smaller sums allocated regionally to the other NGOs that service tenants.
The distribution should occur on a per capita basis to ensure provincial and regional areas are properly serviced.

5. Close the Loopholes and Prosecute Bad Landlords

Renters United recommends:

MBIE investigate every reported breach of both the Healthy Homes Standards and the Residential Tenancies Act and take enforcement action in each instance where a landlord is found in breach.
The police prosecute landlords appropriately for egregious acts against tenants, e.g. being found on a renter’s property without a lawful excuse — like conducting an inspection.
Not use any renter’s funds (the interest collected on bonds) to undertake any enforcement action against tenants. Renters should not be paying for litigation against themselves.
Regulating landlords / property managers by establishing a register, and compelling housing providers to abide by a code of ethics.

6. Boost Housing Supply and Back Public Ownership

Renters United recommends:

Raise social housing levels to reach the OECD average through central government, council, iwi and NGO-run schemes.
Invest government funds in establishing by resident, for-resident housing co-ops.
Using tax reform to cut down on speculation and incentivise building.
Cracking down on Airbnb to ensure renters aren’t displaced to make way for tourists.
Increasing the amount of land zoned for high density housing, and reducing the capacity of NIMBYs to oppose building projects.
Applying a vacant homes tax to prevent landlords from artificially inflating market rents.

7. Lift Standards to Keep Homes Warm, Dry and Energy Efficient

Renters United recommends:

Amending the Healthy Homes Standards to ensure landlords install heat pumps and prioritise solar-panel installation.
Establishing a maximum safe indoor temperature.
Reviewing other standards e.g. insulation, ventilation, and draught-stopping, to ensure they meet international best practice.

8. Ensure Privacy, Safety and Accessibility for Renters

Renters United recommends:

Restricting landlord inspections to once every six months after the first year of a tenancy.
Improving protections for renters whose home has been affected by a natural disaster.
Amending the law to ensure property owners cannot refuse any safety and accessibility features and modifications to the property.