WILLING TON: New Zealand’s rental market is not only troubling for would-be tenants, many landlords fear and loathe the ever-changing rules and diminishing profits, prompting some to pull their properties from the market. But not all landlords see the changes as a drug-induced road trip to Las Vegas – others are looking to Europe for ideas on how to perceive their proprietary role differently. Being a landlord gives you a special responsibility in society to ensure people live in safe, dry and stable living conditions.
If a landlord is to make money from the community they need to ensure their house is kept healthy.
I prefer to raise the rent a little bit every 6 to 12 months to cover rates and insurance rises and explain to the tenants the reason for such a rise.
I think greed harms society in the longrun and will eventually catch up with you.
The situation we have in New Zealand should encourage to make us look at other solutions and change our expectations. Study the overpopulated places such as Holland – young people never look for “houses or flats” to rent, but they look for rooms, called kamers. Usually these room have a small kitchen, bathroom facilities built within the small space. I think changing expectations is the first thing we need to do. Maybe the government could introduce tax incentives for homeowners to convert a room into a living space with all facilities such as bathroom and kitchen included. These tax incentives could become tax deductable, and would be cheaper than building student flats – garages can be easily converted into small dwellings complete with all the facilities needed, again tax incentives could be introduced. Structural changes such as converting unused commercial buildings into renting rooms/spaces. Unused warehouse complexes or buildings should be bought by the Government and converted into modern living facilities. In Sweden and other northern European countries it is common to convert shipping containers into living spaces. If they run out of space to build on the land, these living spaces are built on water, such as canals. Making use of unused space and building multiple dwellings/apartments, designed to be attractive. If you have lived in these overpopulated countries you are likely to have the opinion that we have plenty of space In New Zealand to build, instead of individual houses. Apartments can be built in an attractive way with parks and facilities. I don’t understand why there is a rental or housing crisis in New Zealand. In Holland and Germany long term leases such as 10 years is very normal and creates stability and a content tenants – rent rises there are also controlled by the government. In New Zealand there are far too many rogue landlords who do as they please without having any concern for the people living in them.
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