“The Government is considering the most significant changes to renting laws in over a decade, and it’s vital that renters have their say,” said Renters United spokesperson Anna Mooney.
“Right now the Government is consulting the public on two major pieces of legislation. First, it is reviewing the Residential Tenancies Act, considering whether to end no-fault evictions and rent-bidding, and allowing tenants to keep pets and make minor alterations to their homes.
“Second, the Government is consulting on regulations for the Healthy Homes Guarantee Act, which will determine standards for warm, dry, homes, and how these rules will be enforced.
“These consultations will have major impact on the lives of renters. But the surveys the Government has provided to seek feedback are long-winded and not user-friendly. One survey alone contains 94 questions and takes 45 minutes to complete; the second survey has over 40 questions.
“Renters United has streamlined both into one straightforward, easy-to-use form. We have provided optional answers based on our policy analysis and the Plan to Fix Renting, and provided space for renters to share their stories.
“We hope this encourages thousands of renters to tell the Government what they think will make renting fairer, safer and more secure,” Anna Mooney said.
The user-friendly form is available at: fixrenting.org.nz/submit.
The launch of this form follows a call from independent economist Shamubeel Eaqub for ‘Generation Rent’ to have their say: “If you are a renter, please, please, please, submit and engage in whatever capacity you can. … This is the biggest and most important set of housing policies in generations, let’s not mess this up.”
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