Landlords’ plea: don’t unfairly target us

Part of the Government’s economic response to the Covid-19 crisis has been to introduce a freeze on rent increases for the next six months and increased tenant protections.

That means it is now not possible to terminate tenancies during the lock-down period, unless the parties agree or for a limited, but specific, set of reasons.

These reasons include a tenant being 60 days behind in paying their rent.

However, on Thursday after reports some property managers were getting tough on tenants on rent payments and threatening to evict them post-lockdown, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told media she wanted the names of landlords flouting the new rules.