Calls For Rent Freeze Premature

The Auckland Property Investors Association Incorporated ("APIA") calls on its fellow tenancy groups to refrain from politicking so soon after the Anniversary weekend floods and instead focus on supporting those in the rental sector who are adversely affected.

In an open letter published this morning, the tenant group Renters United called on the government to immediately implement a rent freeze. Ostensibly this is a reaction to the group's mistaken belief that landlords are being encouraged to hike up rent opportunistically.

"To be clear, we have not called on landlords to increase rent, and we won't be either. Not only is it distasteful, doing so could potentially have implications under the Commerce Act," says Association general manager Sarina Gibbon. "We continue to encourage landlords to work with their tenants humanely, pragmatically and expediently under these difficult circumstances."

As to whether a rent freeze is warranted, Gibbon is unconvinced. "We are less than a week into this natural disaster, and no one has any clear visibility into the extent of the flood damage and how many tenants are adversely affected. Now isn't the time to politick for ill-conceived feel-good policies. Let's get the data points onto the board, keep a cool head and come up with a policy response to these floods that actually works."

The Association has suspended all non-essential work this week to support landlords and tenants impacted by the floods. "I am heartened to see that most of the inquiries we have fielded this week are about protecting and preserving tenants' interests," says Gibbon. "Our members are far more preoccupied with keeping their tenants safe and comfortable, remediated their properties, rehousing tenants, and abating rents appropriately than they are about where the market is heading and what that means to prices."

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