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Who needs a doorbell when you’ve
got a golden retriever to let you know
someone’s at the door? How else could the
humans possibly know that the postman
has arrived with the parcel they’ve been
waiting for? Well, if you’re a tenant, there’s
every chance that the golden retriever
isn’t in the house because he’s not
allowed to be. He’s probably not in the
garden either, because you aren’t allowed
him on your lease. Luckily, if you’re a fan
of the floof, yet more changes are being
tabled which may allow your furry friends
to live alongside you! If you’re a landlord,
this might be something that scares you.
Surely this means animal fluff all over the
house, damaged property and chattels
and absolutely the distinct smell of animal
when it comes to re-renting your property
to new tenants, right? Well, maybe you
don’t need to be so fearful of housing the
four legged after all! seem to be shaping up to take on longer
term leases across the country. With this
in mind, the changes would dictate that
landlords could no longer refuse to accept
a tenant on the basis that they have pets.
For example, if a landlord had to choose
between two tenants, one with a dog and
one without, the landlord must be able to
provide a reasonable excuse to not select
the tenant with the dog aside from the
addition of the four-legged friend.
There are plenty of other countries around
the world that successfully allow animals
in rentals, so should New Zealand follow
the trend? Or is it all just a pipe dream for
tenants to expect to be allowed an animal
in the house? What does it mean for the
marketplace? Luckily, we’ve got a pretty
good idea of how it might look, so don’t
panic just yet! One option for landlords to protect
themselves however, is the concept of
a pet bond; similar to the bond that the
human pays, but for the protection of the
property directly against the animal. The
animal would be listed on the tenancy and
an additional bond collected. This could
protect a landlord from the additional
wear and tear from having pets live in the
property and may also guarantee that the
carpets in the property are flea treated
and shampooed at the end of a tenancy.
However, this could create a grey area
where landlords collect the additional
bond and don’t release it at the end of
tenancy, citing damage from the animal
when that is difficult to prove. It could
result in increased disputes at the end of
tenancy and consequently more tribunal
cases.
The proposed changes which would
see animals allowed in rental properties
across the country come as a part of
the continuous rental reforms being
introduced into the marketplace. It is
almost weekly that a new proposed change
is tabled, and it seems as though there is
a common trend amongst the changes. A
majority of the proposed changes that have
been recently discussed allow tenants
more flexibility to make a house a home
and to enjoy a longer tenure in a property.
Whether that be the ability to make minor
cosmetic changes to a property or the
ban on no-cause terminations, tenants
Exceptions to this of course are where
it would be unreasonable to house an
animal in such a property. For example, no
one wants to see a Great Dane in a one
bedroom apartment. Yet the changes that
are proposed would well lend themselves
to a longer tenure as tenants with dogs
are conscious of finding appropriate
properties for their animals and this would
allow them to do so.
If tenants agree to pay a pet bond, it would
not be unreasonable to assume that there
would have to be a separate contract
specific to the property which would
require additional inspections looking
entirely for wear and tear caused by the
animal.
The rental market now is used to across
the board changes. Flexibility has become
a staple of being a good landlord, and
tenants now are accustomed to being
able to adapt quickly when searching for
homes. The reasonable expectation in
this scenario is that the landlord would
increase the rent to address the additional
wear and tear caused by the animals. One
would assume, as landlords would no
longer be able to guarantee whether there
would be an animal in the property or not
follows on from the lack of ability to reject
a tenant based on the inclusion of their
animal in the lease. However, what can
be certain is that this encourages longer
tenancies which provides both landlord
and tenants with increased security and
stability.
If you want to know how the inclusion of
pets in rentals might affect you, or if you’re
curious to know whether your property
would benefit from allowing animals ahead
of the change in legislation, feel free to
give one of our property managers a
call anytime, obligation free on 04 381
8600.
Harrison Vaughan
Managing Director