Are you aware of the recent push in our industry for regulations of Property Managers? 

The proposed legislation is now building momentum so I thought I would give you a brief outline of what is proposed as you are likely to hear more about it in the media.

One in three people live in rental accommodation, and professional Property Managers are responsible for 42% of those rental properties. Currently, apart from the Residential Tenancies Act, there are no industry practice standards and, as a company, we fully back the introduction of these. We already meet most of the proposed requirements!

The regulation model proposed is similar to the real estate agent model with:

• regular annual training, 
• registration and licensing, 
• industry entry requirements and, 
• disciplinary processes.

When we are meeting prospective landlords for the first time, they often say to us “You are all the same anyway” and my response is always, “oh I wish we were!”. Professional Property Managers with high standards will welcome regulation. Regulation will promote public confidence with the introduction of accountability not seen before in our industry and we say bring it on!

As anyone who has dealt with government will know, these are slow turning wheels with onerous process requirements before proposed regulations become legislation. On the current timeline, these proposed regulations would be ready for commencement in 2025 but the wheels are definitely in motion, so watch this space!

You can learn more about the proposed legislation for Property Managers here in a discussion document: https://consult.hud.govt.nz/policy-and-legislation-design/property-managers-review/

Consultation finished on Tuesday 19 April and the draft Bill is expected to be introduced to Parliament in 2023.