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APIA Blog

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10-Aug-2020

Can I ask if a tenant has ever stayed at the Women's Refuge?

Question from Ann: Can I ask a tenant applicant whether he/she has ever stayed at the Women's Refuge? No. We see this as contravening privacy principle 1 of the Privacy Act being that the only personal information a landlord can collect during the application stage has to be information that is necessary for the landlord to determine whether to grant to or withhold the tenancy from the... read more

Landlording

04-Aug-2020

Louise Benson: How to vet and on-board a first-time renter

Most of us have been tenants at some stage in our lives, but there was always that first time. As property managers, working with first-timers requires flexibility and sometimes, creativity. When an application has been received by someone completely new to renting this can prove challenging. We may only have the applicant’s parents or a disgruntled ex... read more

Guest blog

04-Aug-2020

Kelvin Davidson: Property seems to be off politicians’ radars

The 2020 General Election is fast approaching and even in normal years elections tend to create some uncertainty in the economy and the property market, with investors often finding themselves staring down the barrel of some kind of new tax or regulatory change. Needless to say, this parliamentary term has seen plenty of these (e.g. extra insulation standards, tenancy law reform, ri... read more

Must know

02-Aug-2020

You are about to be robbed. Put a stop to it.

After failing to pass The Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill through the standard legislative process, Hon Chris Hipkins, Leader of the House, made the extraordinary announcement last week that he would move to pass this bill into law under urgency on Tuesday 4th August just before the 52nd Parliament dissolves. This is a widely unpopular bill. 82% of New Zealanders opposes its sig... read more

Editor's Choice

24-Jul-2020

Ed McKnight: You can't just buy and hope

Some property commentators (and investors) look at the data the Real Estate Institute release and proclaim that it doesn’t matter where you buy … properties go up roughly the same amount no matter what the region. One economist released a fantastic piece of analysis that showed over the last 28 years, Gisborne house prices went up at the same rate as Auckland h... read more

Guest blog

22-Jul-2020

Ryan Smuts: 4 things to watch out for when working with 2nd-tier lenders

Second-tier/non-bank lending is not for the faint-hearted. Rules differ widely from traditional property financing. Still, with the banks taking a tough stance on property lending these days, it pays to open up your mind to second-tier lenders to get yourself moving forward. I have been asked to share some not-so-obvious tips with first-time borrowers in the second-tier market: Compari... read more

Editor's Choice

09-Jul-2020

Kelvin Davidson: What lies ahead for property in the rest of 2020?

It’s obviously been an unprecedented year for the economy and property market so far in 2020, but it’s at least been reassuring that the number of appraisals generated by real estate agents, for-sale and for-rent listings, valuations ordered by banks, mortgage lending flows, and agreed sales activity have all rebounded since we left alert level four lockdown in late April. What’s ... read more

Q&A

02-Jul-2020

218-1 reasons for termination

This week's question comes from Kam re termination under 218-1 (paraphrased): If the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill becomes law, would landlords be able to terminate a tenancy in order to renovate the property or to put the property on the market? Conditional yes in both instances. In the case of property renovation, a 90-day notice can be issued per (s32(2)(f) if the work i... read more

Q&A

25-Jun-2020

Heat pumps in apartments?

Question from Andrew: As an apartment owner I own the interior of the apartment envelope, the carpark (if I have one) and mail box but the common areas and exterior cladding is owned, managed and maintained by the Body Corporate. The way I read clause 3 below as most, if not all owners of apartments won’t own the exterior cladding (owned by the Body Corporate) this gives an exemption for ... read more