Is The Government Coming Down Unnecessarily On Landlords? Will This Ultimately Benefit Or Hinder Tenants?

Bronwyn Inglis shared these views:

Whilst these are merely proposals at this stage and at their earliest wouldn't be introduced till 2020, the governments indications are worrying and clearly show a lack of foresight with the proposed changes likely to negatively impact tenants and landlords.

We have already seen landlords exit the rental market following the need for higher levels of insulation required to meet minimum housing requirements. Further changes are likely to see a further exodus of mom and pop investors choosing to invest elsewhere, driving supply lower, demand higher and rental increases will spike sharply. Particularly given the proposed single rent increase annually.

However, is all lost and should landlords exit the rental market?

Bronwyn goes on to share her knowledge and expertise, and the clear statement is, a good letting agency is key and a calm level head is required:

We have seen many announcements and proposals, and its worth noting that these are exactly that - a proposal. A lot will likely change over the coming months as feedback is sought and the dust settles.

The importance will ever more lie on having a good letting agency involved from the outset, particularly with the need for good tenants if the right to use no cause terminations to end a periodic tenancy are taken away.

We at Rental Experts have never supported the use of rental bids, due to having seen the first hand impact this has on short term tenancies, overstretching of tenants and later failures by tenants to meet their financial obligations.

This approach often overlooks long term tenants who may only be willing or able to pay less, but easily countered by rental voids and chasing non payment. The purpose of a good rental agency is to secure the best tenants to fit the needs of the landlord. Being Northland’s largest rental agency, we have a track record of achieving this.