PHOTO: LIZ MCDONALD/STUFF Tenants can generally not be moved on against their wishes at present.
It is time for Government to lift restrictions on the rental market imposed because of Covid-19, the Real Estate Institute says.
On March 24, before New Zealand went into level 4 lockdown, the Government introduced emergency changes to protect tenants.
Rents were frozen for an initial period of six months, until September 25.
Tenancies could not be ended – except in exceptional circumstances – until at least June 25. Tenants who had received or given notice to end their tenancies could stay in their rental properties.
Real Estate Institute chief executive Bindi Norwell said it had been important to protect tenants from rental increases and ensure no one was left homeless during the lockdown, the situation had since moved on “dramatically”.
“With no active cases of Covid-19 in the country and 20 days in a row of no new cases, therefore, we would argue that the emergency legislation has served its purpose and should be ended immediately, or at the latest by June 26, which was the end of the initial three-month period.
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