PHOTO: Currently anyone can be a property manager, but renters and property managers both want stricter rules. Source: 1 NEWS
Tenant advocates and property managers both say the Government has been slow to deliver on its plan to regulate the property management sector.
The Government made a pre-election promise last October to regulate property managers, but so far there’s only been consultation, and no policy decisions have been made.
Wellington renter Josh McKendry spent much of last year in a flat that was cold, mouldy and falling apart. He says it was often colder inside the house than out, and everything from furniture to personal belongings was regularly coated in mould.
He says the tipping point was when builders came in for repairs, and discovered that part of a wall was actually a real estate sign that had been painted and duct taped down in order to hide some rotten wood.
“Honestly, I just forgot what it was like to feel warm, you’d go out and come back home, even if it was winter you’d walk in and become colder than you were outside.”
The flat was managed by a property management company. McKendry says it took far too long for the property managers to deal with complaints, and he wants to see stricter rules.
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