Thursday news in brief

Life is busy and it’s easy to miss some of the stories that hit the news. So here’s a brief rundown of some of the stories that might have slipped by you this week…

Thursday, June 22nd 2017, 12:30PM

by The Landlord

Landlords – are you ready for July 2019?

Important changes to the Residential Tenancies Act come into force in 2019 so the MBIE tenancy services team will be running seminars to help landlords better understand the changes and how to apply them.

Four seminars will be held in Rotorua, Palmerston North, Whangarei, and Queenstown between June and November on the requirement for homes to have working smoke alarms and insulation under floors and in ceilings in 1 July 2019.

MBIE’s national manager tenancy services Jennifer Sykes said the changes to the RTA will make homes warmer, drier, and safer for New Zealanders.

“We encourage landlords or property investors with five or fewer properties to attend a seminar to learn about the options available, including grants, to help them comply. Information on the seminars is available on the Tenancy Services website.”

Read more: Landlords on notice – MBIE

Demand for “green” homes skyrocketing

New Zealanders want healthier, more sustainable homes, according to a new report from the Green Building Council which shows that demand for such homes is up 10 fold since 2015.

The council’s chief executive, Andrew Eagles, said that, over the last three years, there has been a significant increase (from 670 to 6,700) in new homes registering under the Homestar rating tool, which gives a stamp of approval to homes with high standards of sustainability and efficiency.

“As we look to build significantly more homes it’s important that quality is championed. Home buyers want to know that the house they’re moving into is going to be healthy for their families, suit their life style and be built to a high standard.”

Auckland Council Environment and Community Committee Chair Penny Hulse said homes that receives Homestar ratings are the type of housing that we want more of. “They help homeowners save money, result in better health and well-being and help reduce our climate impacts.”

Read more: Value houses on performance

NZ property slips in Chinese rankings

The impact of overseas buyers on New Zealand’s property market has been much debated but a new report reveals that for Chinese buyers, at least, New Zealand property is no longer as desirable.

Chinese real estate website Juwai.com has just released its latest Global Property Index Report and New Zealand has tumbled down the rankings. In the previous report, New Zealand sat in the top position: it is now in 11th place.

According to the report, this is because tighter tax and lending policies have resulted in a cooler housing market in which house prices are increasing at a much slower rate year-on-year.

The top property market for Chinese buyers is now Iceland, followed closely by Canada and Romania. Germany and Sweden round out the new top five. But Australia has also gone down in the rankings.

« Migration boom continues

Rising build costs bad news »

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