Homeowners ‘should wait for the election result’ before installing heating: lobby

Landlords should wait to see if National wins the October election before spending money to recondition their rents to new heating standards, says a lobbyist for landlords.

Comments from the NZ Property Investors Foundation have been called “deeply disappointing” by the Labor Party and questioned by the Real Estate Institute and the NZ Green Building Council.

The advice comes after National under new leader Judith Collins confirmed to the Herald it would break the new healthy home rules recently introduced by the Labor-led government.

The standards require, effective July 1, 2021, that all rentals be equipped with insulation, heating and ventilation within 90 days of an existing tenant renewing their lease or a new tenant moving in.

Some rental owners had been preparing for next year’s deadline by doing the updates now.

But Andrew King of the NZ Property Investors Foundation said National’s election promise could give homeowners a reason to stop and sniff the wind.

Instead of being forced to install modern heat pumps, a victory in the national elections would allow landlords to give tenants a choice, he said.

Enjoy the benefits of a modern heat pump, which can cost up to $ 3,000, and be willing to pay it in the form of a higher rent, or forfeit it and pay a cheaper rent.

“It’s probably a good idea to wait,” he said.

King said that he would personally install a heat pump immediately if his tenant wanted it and was willing to pay a higher rent because the tenant was the customer and needed to be pleased.

But landlords didn’t like being told they had to because, in some cases, the tenant might not want new heat pumps, he said.

Labor Associate Housing Minister Kris Faafoi pointed to King’s comments.

“I would be deeply disappointed if homeowners were given advice to delay work to ensure they are providing safe, dry and healthy accommodation to their fellow New Zealanders on the grounds that a more malleable government could come to power and eliminate the Basic standards to see that New Zealand’s poor record on healthy housing has improved tremendously, “he said.

Real Estate Institute CEO Bindi Norwell said that ultimately, homeowners would make their own decisions about when to update their rentals to meet the new Healthy Homes standards.

However, the institute’s advice was to start preparing now because waiting could mean that homeowners run into a worker shortage next year and miss the Healthy Homes deadline, which carries the risk of being fined.

Andrew Eagles, CEO of the nonprofit NZ Green Building Council, also compared King’s argument that renters don’t want to pay for modern heating as equivalent to air bags in cars.

Some buyers might choose cars without airbags if that means they were sold at a cheaper price, he said.

However, airbags were mandatory due to the risk to public safety and the cost to health systems that came from car accidents.

And yet, even with the addition of modern safety features, the cars were still affordable for most Kiwis, Eagles said.

Similarly, New Zealand’s rental housing stock is among the worst in the developed world, creating potential lifelong suffering for young children and families and large healthcare costs, he said.

More than a third of renters in government surveys had reported living with dangerous mold in their homes, he said.

An independent poll commissioned by the building council also found that 52 percent of Kiwis would vote for a party that was willing to tackle the problem of poor housing urgently, he said.

The tumult continues with a growing political emphasis on rental housing issues, with Labor presenting herself as an advocate for tenants’ rights and National claiming to be the advocate for landlords.

Home affordability was a key issue in the 2017 election, when National promised to build 26,000 new homes and Labor 100,000 over 10 years.

But with the failure of the Labor-led government to deliver on its KiwiBuild program, both sides have turned away from homebuilding programs.

Instead, with homeownership rates falling and more Kiwis facing the prospect of renting longer, the Labor-led government introduced a series of measures that protect renters’ rights.

These included the new Healthy Homes rules to make homes warmer and drier, limit rent increases to once a year, and allow tenants to have pets and make simple changes to rental homes whenever they repair the home. after.

They also prohibited landlords from evicting tenants for no reason. Labor said this would allow tenants to talk about problems in their homes without fear of being branded a troublemaker and evicted.

But National has labeled the new measures an “attack on homeowners” and promised a statutory bonfire in which they would repeal all Coalition Government measures except the rules on insulation standards if elected.

Landlords argued that kicking out tenants without giving a reason was the most efficient way to handle bad tenants. Losing this would mean that they would lose control of their properties and ultimately further harm neighboring tenants because they have to continue living alongside antisocial behavior.