David Seymour and Chris Bishop. Photo / Mark Tantrum
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Regulation Minister David Seymour will soon announce a policy to introduce “pet bonds”, which they hope will make it easier for people with pets to find rental accommodation.
A pet voucher works like an ordinary rental voucher. The money is handed over at the start of a tenancy and if the animal causes damage during the tenancy, that money is used to cover the cost of repairs and remediation.
Details of the scheme will be announced shortly, including whether Tenancy Services, which are responsible for holding ordinary bonds, will also hold pet bonds.
The act relied on the introduction of animal bonds during the campaign. The Act’s policy allows landlords to charge a bond higher than the usual maximum of four weeks’ rent to cover damage caused by pets.
The Government last week announced changes to make it easier to evict tenants. hope u the policy improves the rental situation by encouraging more investment in residential rentals. However, government officials were skeptical, with a Regulatory Impact Statement sounding notes of skepticism.
The big change allows for the return of evictions without cause.
Bishop said these changes would reverse a “war on landlords” waged by the former government.
“Many landlords have told us that this has driven them out of the rental market,” Bishop said.
Labour’s housing spokesman Kieran McAnulty said the changes were “same old, same old from National.
“These changes alongside bringing back the deductibility of interest will make it more difficult for renters and first home buyers. There is nothing tangible that will see more houses built, only increasing competition on existing housing instead to build more houses,” McAnulty said.
The Green Party’s head of housing, Tamatha Paul, said the changes would mean “a lot of people will be forced out of their homes for unfair reasons.
“It reinforces to renters that the houses they’re living in are not theirs, that it’s not their house and reminds them that they’re still living in someone else’s house,” Paul said.
