Rental Housing

We have a number of current projects to increase our understanding of rental housing. They include:

  • Reviewing tenancy tribunal hearings, with especial reference to considerations of housing quality
  • Understanding the development of tenants rights organisations and the potential for them in New Zealand,
  • Understanding the regulation of rental housing in New Zealand

Tenants rights:

Movement for change: New Zealand renters and the quality and security of their homes

This study will:
1. Investigate the reasons and context for the lack of tenants’ voices in the discourse
on rental housing in New Zealand.
2. Study the functioning and role of tenants’ organisations/unions in comparable
countries.
3. Establish relationships with people and organisations working for better rental
housing in New Zealand.
4. Survey renters’ ideas about rental housing conditions, their identity as renters, and
political engagement on this issue.
5. Assess the potential for collective action to improve the conditions of rental housing
in New Zealand through campaigning and advocacy

Regulation of Rental Housing

This study aims to describe and compare the structure and regulation of the private and public rental housing market in NZ with a number of OECD countries.

There is a lack of information on the impact of New Zealand regulations on the quality of housing. This is due in part to the limited information available on the quality of private rental housing. There has also been little work done on comparing the situation in NZ with that of other OECD countries. This study will fill this gap by comparing NZ with a number of OECD countries: the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the Netherlands, Australia and Sweden. It will look at the regulations at both central and local government level pertaining to the rental housing market, such as building and maintenance standards, occupancy standards and tenancy legislation and other policy instruments such as rent control and accommodation supplements.

The study will include a description of the rental housing market in New Zealand including a description of landlords: who are they e.g. private individuals, churches, so-called ‘ma and pa’ investors or cooperatives? Also, it will investigate who is living where; which part of the housing market different groups are living in such as those with particular health needs or lower socioeconomic groups.