Regarding the upcoming amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) Harcourts Asset Management advise that landlords and tenants need to understand the recent changes to tenancy law and how this will affect them.
The 1 July 2021 Healthy Homes deadline is now only a few months away. This is the date that residential rental properties must comply with the Healthy Homes Standards, within 90 days of any new or renewed tenancy.
All landlords, including boarding house landlords, must comply with various legal obligations as governed by the Residential Tenancies Act (the Act). This started in August 2020, with parts of the Act being changed by the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill. The changes are taking effect at three key dates:
Phase 1: 12 August 2020, Phase 2: 11 February 2021 and Phase 3: 11 August 2021.
Phase 1: Rent can only be increased every 12 months
From 12 August 2020, rent increases are limited to once every 12 months. This is a change from once every 180 days (six months).
Phase 2: This includes security of rental tenure, changes for fixed-term tenancies, minor changes to the property, prohibitions on rental bidding, privacy and access to justice, the assignment of tenancies, landlord records, enforcement measures being strengthened and changes to Tenancy Tribunal jurisdiction.
Phase 3: Family violence: tenants experiencing family violence will be able to terminate a tenancy without financial penalty.
Physical assault: a landlord will be able to issue a 14-day notice to terminate the tenancy if the tenant has assaulted the landlord, the owner, a member of their family, or the landlord’s agent, and the Police have laid a charge against the tenant in respect of the assault.
Termination of fixed-term tenancies – for all fixed-term tenancies granted before the
main commencement date, the old rules for ending tenancies apply. The new rules for terminating fixed-term tenancies will only apply to fixed-term tenancies granted after the main commencement date.
Please note that Harcourts property managers have attended training on the amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act, and will continue to upskill to ensure that they are delivering the best possible service to their valued clients, so for more information on property asset management, rental management companies and online rent applications please go to www.assetmanagers.harcourts.co.nz .
