Heatley Phil: Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Heatley Phil: Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:664;Page:12208] 
Hon PHIL HEATLEY (Minister of Housing) 
: 
 I move  
That the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill be now read a third time 
. This bill amends the Residential Tenancies Act 1986. I introduced this bill to the House on 13 May 2009 and I am pleased to begin the bill’s final process for passage through the House. Keeping the Kiwi dream of homeownership within reach is a key focus for this Government as many will know. That is why we are working so hard to make housing more affordable by freeing up the supply of land and reducing the red tape that has been strangling the building and construction sector. I acknowledge my colleagues the Hon Maurice Williamson and the Hon Dr Nick Smith who are working hard on the Resource Management Act and the Building Act in order to streamline them to make sure that red tape is indeed slashed. We are also easing the burden of interest rates by growing the economy. We do not want to see interest rates go to 8 9 or 10 percent like they were under the previous Government. We want people to be able to afford a mortgage. We are eliminating low-quality spending and are progressing a programme of personal tax cuts so people can better afford a mortgage. 
The reality is there will always be those who for either lifestyle or affordability reasons want or need to rent a place to live. Since the vast majority of families rent privately it is important to ensure that the legislation governing the sector supports adequate private-sector provision of decent rental housing. That is why this bill is all about balance. It will enable the thousands of mum and dad landlords throughout the country to manage their tenancies and protect their investments while ensuring that people who rent their homes have access to stable good quality housing and the protections we would expect they would be afforded. The bill extends coverage of the Act to more people involved in renting including the most vulnerable tenants in New Zealand: those living in boarding houses. Up until now people living in boarding houses did not have significant protections but protections will be there now. For example there is the provision that I spoke about during the Committee stage where boarding-house operators will now need to give 28 days’ notice for someone to move on instead of just 24 hours. 
We will clarify the responsibilities for outgoings such as water rates by introducing overarching principles to indicate where landlords or tenants are responsible for charges. We will introduce clear and fairer processes for terminating and renewing tenancies to provide an appropriate balance between flexibility and certainty of tenure and encourage landlords and tenants to comply with their obligations; for example by enabling the Tenancy Tribunal to award financial penalties against landlords who do not live up to their side of the bargain and by improving the enforceability of Tenancy Tribunal orders. Just as important as what the bill amends are those features of the Act that have served us well over the years that the bill retains. When things go wrong it is important that both landlords and tenants can access quick low-cost and impartial dispute-resolution services. That is why this Government is very reluctant to open up the Tenancy Tribunal so freely to lawyers as the Labour Party suggests we should. 
The dispute resolution process under this Act is an extremely exemplary example of how this can be achieved. As I said if there is a David and Goliath situation—if the tenant is a minor if the tenant has a disability if we are talking about large sums of money over $6000 or a situation where a landlord has a lawyer or an advocate—in all those cases a tenant can access advocacy and in many cases legal counsel. Tenancy adjudicators have specialist knowledge of the Act and are empowered to take an inquisitorial approach to resolving disputes. It is quite different from the courts system and it is another reason why we do not need lawyers to freely enter the dispute resolution process when it comes to the Tenancy Tribunal. Landlords and tenants are encouraged to represent themselves at hearings with the use of solicitors and representatives limited to only as I said where the nature of disputes brings particular disparity between the parties. This means the process is quick cost-effective and most important very very fair. 
During the consideration of the bill the Social Services Committee heard from a wide range of submitters with a diverse range of backgrounds and perspectives. That is testament to the fact that our tenancy laws affect people from all walks of life and political persuasions. Tenancy laws will always contain contentious elements as strengthening the rights of one party almost inevitably means reducing the rights of another. This legislation seeks to balance out things more perfectly than has been the case in the past. I acknowledge the difficult and important role that the Social Services Committee has played in ensuring that those competing interests were properly considered and appropriately balanced in the bill. I acknowledge the work undertaken by the previous Government in terms of what we are proposing to pass here today. I also acknowledge the work of the Opposition in investigating and putting forward Supplementary Order Papers or amendments that were substantial and thought out and attempted to address issues that are real. There was no trifling with the House; the amendments put forward were worthy of consideration. Obviously we chose to vote against them for good reasons of our own but we appreciate the debate. I thank the select committee staff Department of Building and Housing officials and the Parliamentary Counsel Office drafters who worked on the bill. 
Most important I thank the hundreds of landlords tenants and others with an interest in tenancy matters who participated in the review of the Act. By sharing their experiences they helped shape a better bill. The reform of the Act which directly affects the lives of around one-third of New Zealand households has been a long time coming and I acknowledge that. It is with pleasure and satisfaction that I am able to oversee its final progress through the House. I commend this bill to the House.