Swarbrick ChlöeCHLÖE SWARBRICK (Green): E Te Māngai tēnā koe. Tēnā koutou e Te Whare. It is a privilege to rise and speak after a relatively long line of National Party property owners which we obviously know as a result of the Register of Pecuniary and Other Specified Interests of Members of Parliament which is a public document. And the reason that I—CHAIRPERSON (Hon Anne Tolley): I just caution the member—there is a Standing Order that actually deals with this so just be careful where you go with that. CHLÖE SWARBRICK: All right Madam Chair. I'll leave that point being made and say that this is obviously a House of Representatives. There are five individuals in this House in that most recent register who don't own properties and I am one of them. To that point I would like to speak to the experience of renters because this piece of legislation is delivering for 50 percent of New Zealanders who rent. Letting fees are a barrier to entry. I think that's important to note because the point was made by Dr Nick Smith about the fact that costs should lie where they fall. In response to that I can only say that surely it makes sense following that line of logic that people who are engaging in contracts with property managers or leasing agencies should be paying those fees. It is an anomaly in the law that allows for those leasing agencies to charge renters. So surely we want to correct that anomaly. Where else in the law are two contracting parties allowed to impose a cost on a third party who is not privy to that contract? To the point around market competition—surely there would be greater market competition for the costs of leasing should landlords need to shop around for those leasing agencies as opposed to imposing those costs on renters. If I may I'd like to make the point that if you own a rental property you own at least one more property than your rental tenant. As my dad so frequently says when you're renting you're paying somebody else's mortgage. The previous speaker the Hon Louise Upston spoke to prohibitive costs for landlords with regards to leasing should they not be allowed to charge these letting fees. To that point I would note the Reserve Bank's advice that rents are driven primarily by supply and demand not by landlord costs which raises the important point that if it is becoming prohibitive for certain people to be landlords then perhaps they should be selling those properties therefore increasing supply in the housing market and allowing and enabling young people prospective buyers of properties to purchase their first home. Secondly I would like to point to the kind of statements around the landlord sector and the calls from the Hon Dr Nick Smith for transparent charges on rents. I'd agree with him on that point. I think it is really important that we have transparency and accountability about how rents are being calculated. So I'm really disappointed that in 2016 the National Party whilst in Government voted down Metiria Turei's Residential Tenancies (Safe and Secure Rentals) Amendment Bill which would have provided greater security and greater transparency and accountability for renters. Finally I'd like to point to the 60 percent of submissions that were in favour of this piece of legislation because as has been noted time and again this is about delivering for the 50 percent of New Zealanders who rent.