Changes to the rental sector make it too difficult to evict 'antisocial' tenants - Property Investors' Federation

Proposed changes to the rental sector will make it too difficult to evict "antisocial tenants", the Property Investors' Federation (NZPIF) says.

The proposed changes announced on Sunday revealed tenants' security would be improved by removing a landlord's right to use no-cause terminations to end a periodic tenancy agreement, according to Associate Housing Minister Kris Faafoi.

Andrew King of the NZPIF says a lot of the proposed changes are reasonable but remove an important tool for landlords.

"It used to be that we could end a tenancy without having to say why," he told The Project on Monday. "It was incredibly important to do that because in cases of antisocial behaviour from a tenant, neighbours would complain but they wouldn't be willing to do it in writing."

Economic equality author Max Rashbrooke, appearing on the show alongside King, said the tenancy system can't be organised around a problem which only applies to three percent of tenants.

"We have to realise [that] renting is now a way of life for a lot of people."

A Bill to change the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 will be put in front of Parliament early next year.

Changes the NZ First-Labour Government has already made include banning letting fees, establishing better standards for rentals and cutting foreigners' ability to speculate on the property market. 

"People deserve to have a stable, secure home and a home that they can really make their own," Rashbrooke said. "So it's essential that they can't just be turfed out by a landlord who's not even willing to give a reason for doing so."