New regime to protect renters and property owners introduced
Published 18 Aug 23
The Residential Property Managers Bill (the Bill) was introduced to Parliament on 18 August 2023.
The Bill aims to protect both tenants and property owners by creating a comprehensive regulatory regime for residential property managers and residential property management organisations. The proposed regulatory system includes licensing, training and education requirements, along with industry practice standards, and a complaints and disciplinary framework.
“Having a regulatory regime is important for the protection of renters and property owners. The regime will ensure residential property managers meet common competency and conduct standards,” says Anne Shaw, DCE, Solutions Design and Implementation.
Nearly one in three households rent in Aotearoa New Zealand and the residential property management sector is responsible for managing around half of the residential tenancy market. While many property managers abide by appropriate professional standards, the sector is not legally required to meet minimum conduct, competency and industry practice standards.
The Bill will apply to individual residential property managers (including real estate agents providing property management services) and residential property management organisations. Private landlords and public landlords, including Kāinga Ora and Community Housing Providers, will not be subject to the regulatory regime, as they are already regulated under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
Public consultation on the proposed regime was held for nine weeks over February – April 2022, with the over 450 submitters being broadly supportive of the model, although various refinements were suggested. In October 2022, Cabinet agreed to develop legislation regulating residential property managers and proposed that the Real Estate Authority act as regulator and the Real Estate Agents Disciplinary Tribunal provide tribunal functions.
The Bill is now awaiting its first reading and referral to select committee. Whether this happens prior to the 2023 general election will depend on the availability of Parliament’s time. Stakeholders wanting to provide input can expect to do so when the select committee invites public submissions on the Bill.
