Thursday, 4 February 2021, 9:16 am
The New Zealand Property Investors’ Federation (NZPIF)
agrees with the Privacy Commissioner that the collection,
retention, and disclosure of personal information on tenants
must be open and fair,” says Sharon Cullwick, NZPIF
Executive Officer.
Due to the short supply of rental
homes, tenants are being asked for more information than is
required by a landlord for them to be assessed for a rental
property. Some information is vital for a landlord to be
able to make an assessment, such as name, proof of
identification, number of occupants, and pets. A landlord
may require to a credit check but will need to obtain
Rents soar after Covid-19 freeze ends stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The reforms have been fiercely contested by many landlords and, as the day they come into force (February 11) draws closer, there’s been a swag of claims about possible repercussions – with a prominent one being that large numbers of rental properties will be left vacant. That particular claim emerged after a Cambridge-based developer said he would no longer rent out the older houses he bought to develop until the project kicked off as he has done previously, instead he would leave them empty. But NZ Property Investors Federation president Andrew King said he doubted that large numbers of landlords would simply leave their properties empty long-term.
Property investors are now the dominant buyer group in the market nationwide, with new data revealing they made the biggest share of purchases in December 2020.