The punishment is imprisonment. They aren't supposed to suffer is squalor.crime needs to be punished as the victim deserves this.
The punishment is imprisonment. They aren't supposed to suffer is squalor.crime needs to be punished as the victim deserves this.
Agreed. The poor conditions obviously aren’t deterring anyone as the cells seem to stay full to the extent of double bunking.The punishment is imprisonment. They aren't supposed to suffer is squalor.
Prisons are the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.Our systems need complete overhaul. The whole model has to be thrown out and we need to seriously adopt the healthy prisons models in places like the Netherlands and Scandinavia.
Err...it was naievity..at best. Probably just plain stupid."The Labour government came in fully intending to build houses. I'm not sure if it was naivety but it hasn't happened," said Jan Rutledge, general manager of De Paul House, an emergency housing service in Auckland.
When a bureaucracy discovers the reality of its systems in practice...Err...it was naievity..at best. Probably just plain stupid.
I know I am a National voter, which colours my view of Cindy, but her and the team are just lightweight dreamers looking for good clickbait.When a bureaucracy discovers the reality of its systems in practice...
I believe there needs to be severe penalties/taxes for purposefully leaving rental properties empty just for the capital gains. At the same time I believe the very strict regulations and rules for property owners of rentals has caused the median rent price to shoot up (This point I actually came to after listening to a talkback caller that made a decent point and changed my outlook on the whole situation).He's a socialist in US terms. Used as an insult - because of their cold war thinking. Also the US is in a different stratosphere when it comes to person wealth.
We should be open to multiple options to help with this problem. There is no silver bullet.
Wealth tax, stamp duty, land tax, whatever will help.
Scaling penalties for leaving rentals/investment properties empty.
Already happening. I was waiting on a consent and kept a property empty for almost 18 months because of the cost and hassle of making it habitable. It’s easier empty to have architects, engineers, council people and tradesmen visit to price, measure up, etc - you need to give tenants notice every time you visit...Biggest tenancy law reform in 35 years: 'I'll keep my places empty'
A landlord has expressed fear about the biggest tenancy law reform in 35 years, threatening to empty his homes when New Zealand's 1.5 million renters get much more power early next month.
From February 11, major changes to the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 become law, embedding tenants more firmly and making it harder for landlords to evict, with a far more limited range of reasons.
Investor John Kenel, who runs an investment business specialising in housing, said there was no question about what he would do in response.
"This means I'll be keeping more property vacant, unfortunately. I buy older houses for development and in the past I could rent them out at low costs until I wanted to develop them. Now, it will be just too hard," Kenel said.
New Zealand has around 1.5 million tenants in about 600,000 properties.
View attachment 43624
Others say the reforms will make being an investor untenable and predict rental properties will go up for sale from next month.
But economist Shamubeel Eaqub doubted landlords would sell en masse: "So the homes will be bought by renters or already-occupiers."
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says an increasing number of New Zealanders are renting.
"The changes we've made as a Government have been about creating balance and making sure that a renter's home is warm and dry. My view is that some of the statements we've seen made publicly does a disservice to landlords. The majority of landlords have good, stable tenants," she said.
From the middle of this year, further new housing standards come into force to ensure homes are fit for purpose to rent. From July 1, further health home standards become mandatory.
Tougher laws mean landlords will need to comply with new heating insulation, ventilation, moisture and drainage and draught-stopping standards.
Kenel said other housing developers he knew would also not rent their places.
"The Government just doesn't understand cause and effect," Kenel said, refusing to say how many properties he owned but indicating it was many.
After the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act was passed last August, the Real Estate Institute said it would do more harm than good. Bindi Norwell, outgoing chief executive, said a survey found 46 per cent of landlords and investors said it was likely or highly likely they would sell their rental property if removal of the right to issue a 90-day notice went ahead.
That is now law and from February 11, landlords will be more restricted from evicting tenants.
"Given we already have a shortage of quality rental stock across the country, this is problematic as it will further reduce the pool of rental properties available and likely push up rents even further," Norwell said.
"With median rents in Auckland having risen 9.8 per cent in the last three years from $510 to $550/week and in Wellington by 20.2 per cent from $420 to $505/week, it will be interesting to see how much higher rents go as more landlords withdraw from the market," she said.
Tenants without an excellent rental history might now find it even harder than they already do, given how hard it will now be to remove tenants who end up significantly in arrears, she said.
Accountant Anthony Appleton-Tattersall, who specialises in property, said the February 11 changes were sweeping.
"These changes really will result in some pretty serious unintended consequences for this Government. While I'm reasonably sure that most of the 'landlords will quit the market' rhetoric is just that, I am certain that tenants whose records are more marginal will no longer be given that shot," he said.
"The downside risk of renting to a problem tenant will now be so huge that most landlords would see a vacant property as preferable to a chance at being stuck with a tenant from hell," Appleton-Tattersall said.
"Short term these changes are awful for landlords. Long term, the unintended consequences will just push rents and property prices up, and landlords who stick with it, win eventually. They always do."
He was unaware of the 14-day notice landlords will be able to issue for assault, a further change but not due to come into effect until August.
"But in what world should a person charged by police with assault against their landlord have the right to live there for a further 14 days? They should be put out overnight if the police took notice," Appleton-Tattersall said.
One of the most controversial and biggest changes is an end to no-cause terminations: landlords won't be able to axe tenancies without lawful reason from next month, meaning they can't just give the 90 days' notice without any cause.
The tenancy can still be ended if the landlord proposes to sell but instead of the landlord giving 42 days, it becomes 90 days.
Landlords will be able to give other reasons but they will need to be real such as demolishing or changing the premises' use. Three notices for anti-social behaviour is one reason under the changed law, or if the tenant is five days late with the rent on three separate occasions.
Landlords will have to issue a tenant three written notices for separate anti-social acts within 90 days then apply to the Tenancy Tribunal to terminate the tenancy.
Other reasons to seek eviction are:
• if the tenant has been at least five working days late with rent on three separate occasions within 90 days;
• where the landlord will suffer greater hardship than the tenant if the tenancy continues;
• where the landlord or a member of their family or employee requires the premises as their principal place of residence.
From last August, it became illegal to raise rents every three or six months and instead is now limited to annually.
Biggest tenancy law reform in 35 years: 'I'll keep my places empty' - NZ Herald
I was recently looking at buying property in my old home town in regional NZ 1 to help out family, 2 as an option for later in life. I was shocked at how much prices had risen! I’m talking only $150ish k to just buy a little further out than we currently live in Sydney- and the quality in build in NZ was substantially older property vs brand new.A boring clip, but what it says is dynamite. It is an Australian analysis of our housing market.
Did ya know the average house price in Auckland is more than anywhere in Oz, except Sydney, and then not by much in Sydney.
Not a good time to be trying to buy any property anywhere in NZ atm bro. (even disregarding covid etc)I was recently looking at buying property in my old home town in regional NZ 1 to help out family, 2 as an option for later in life. I was shocked at how much prices had risen!
Growing kids and space are always a challenge, not to mention finding the money to extend and or renovate, as you are currently doing.I'd like to move but am in the process of getting more capital together along with needing to get some rennovations done on the current house. Brought in the last boom period a few years ago, second house wasn't suppose to be a do up or need any work but how competitive the market was that didn't work out.
An example of how competitive the market was circa 2014 my wife went to an auction while I stayed home with the baby. We missed out on a lot of houses so was expecting to miss out again. She rings me in surprise that we brought a house, even though that was our goal for the last 3-6 months.
Also around that time I was joking we should buy some empty property in my home town which were going for $45k. At the time the town was often listed as one of the lower markets in the country I think they bounced up to $70k and now might be around $120k. My thinking was either to build a holiday home when we come down to visit family or ready for retirement. That idea is well gone.
I was also looking at the next town over by the beach where my mate stays I'd hate to look at the prices now.
Not looking forward to when we need start looking again. The kids are currently 5 and 7 and the rooms aren't ideal for teenagers and room to study. Or the next part after that when they start looking for their own places.
I bought my first home in West Auckland around 1967 for about 15000 dollars and when transferred to Wellington a few years later sold for $23000 .Now the last sale as I googled was 2 years ago for $1.7 million. A very ordinary 3 bedroom home with a garage. Good area in those days but not nowI know one of the experts often quoted in those articles.
No name, but he is highly respected as a corporate economist. He is very honest, and conservative with no political leanings as far as I know.
About 4 years ago when everybody was predicting the bubble was about to pop I bought my current place. He raised his eyebrows. giving me the impression he thought it a brave move.
I had come back from overseas and had a bit of dosh in the bank. My bank kept on leaning on me to take out a loan, and I mean really kept at me.
However he said to me as long as your interest payment is the same or cheaper than rent you will be ok.
Since then my property has increased in value by almost 40%. That is based on nearby sales, bank and real estate valuations.
Just saying like.
I would hate to be back in my 20s buying a house.
My first house that I bought in 1976 for $25000 is now worth over a million.
The social consequences of that are very sad.
Also, if you leave Auckland for somewhere else in New Zealand, don't expect it to be easy to come back.
27 Sep
Compiled from 19 ratings