Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust chief executive Julie Scott says National’s proposal to repeal two of Labour’s tenancy law changes would probably enable some landlords to open up their homes.
National’s housing spokesman Chris Bishop yesterday announced it would reverse the removal of no-cause terminations and the provisions which saw fixed-term tenancies roll into period tenancies in most cases.
The party would also restore interest deductibility for rental properties and restore the brightline test to two years, down from 10 under Labour.
"Queenstown provides a perfect case study of how these law changes have backfired.
"Around a quarter of Queenstown properties are estimated to be empty, while hundreds of people are living in cars, in tents, or on couches.
"Many landlords who would once have offered a short-term fixed tenancy for some months of the year have decided it is just too difficult, and instead turned to Airbnb," Mr Bishop said.
At a public meeting on the rental housing crisis in Queenstown yesterday, he said National would not ban Airbnb and the like, but was prepared to "go away and look at it".
"I’m happy to listen to the feedback, that’s why I’ve come down here, to listen and hear your stories. I’m happy to go away and look at ideas."
At the same meeting, Ms Scott said the housing issue was "such an incredibly complex situation.
"There are so many things that need to be done."
However, she said much of the feedback from property managers was that owners would rent their houses out on a fixed-term basis, were it not for the fact after 90 days it turned into a periodic tenancy.
"That means they don’t have the right to get it back when they want it back, but they’re happy to sign up to a 12-month tenancy."
From that perspective, National’s policy would likely have a positive impact, she said.
