Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill (No 2)

2.1. Are there any publicly available inquiry, review or evaluation reports that have informed, or are relevant to, the policy to be given effect by this Bill?

NO

N/A

2.2. Does this Bill seek to give effect to New Zealand action in relation to an international treaty?

NO

N/A

2.2.1. If so, was a National Interest Analysis report prepared to inform a Parliamentary examination of the proposed New Zealand action in relation to the treaty?

NO

N/A

2.3. Were any regulatory impact statements provided to inform the policy decisions that led to this Bill?

YES

A further impact assessment was completed, Impact Summary: Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill (No 2) Supplementary Order Paper.

This will be published on the Treasury and Ministry of Housing and Urban Development websites once the Supplementary Order Paper has been released.

Please refer to the original Departmental Disclosure Statement which lists the Regulatory Impact Assessments on tenant liability for damage, unlawful residential premises and methamphetamine contamination of rental properties.

2.3.1. If so, did the RIA Team in the Treasury provide an independent opinion on the quality of any of these regulatory impact statements?

NO

The Regulatory Impact Summary above did not meet the threshold for needing an independent opinion on the quality of the regulatory impact assessment from the Regulatory Impact Assessment Team in the Treasury.

2.3.2. Are there aspects of the policy to be given effect by this Bill that were not addressed by, or that now vary materially from, the policy options analysed in these regulatory impact statements?

NO

 N/A

2.4. Has further impact analysis become available for any aspects of the policy to be given effect by this Bill?

NO

N/A

2.5. For the policy to be given effect by this Bill, is there analysis available on:

(a)   the size of the potential costs and benefits?

NO

(b)   the potential for any group of persons to suffer a substantial unavoidable loss of income or wealth?

NO

N/A

2.6. For the policy to be given effect by this Bill, are the potential costs or benefits likely to be affected by:

(a)   the level of effective compliance or non-compliance with applicable obligations or standards?

NO

(b)   the nature and level of regulator effort put into encouraging or securing compliance?

NO

N/A

3.1. What steps have been taken to determine whether the policy to be given effect by this Bill is consistent with New Zealand’s international obligations?

The Supplementary Order Paper to the Bill makes changes to New Zealand’s domestic residential rental market, however, the amendment is consistent with New Zealand’s international obligation to protect the right of people in New Zealand to enjoy adequate housing. This obligation can be found in a number of ratified international treaties, including article 25(1) Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which this legislation has a particularly important effect due to the positive impacts on the health and wellbeing of children in low-income families.

3.2. What steps have been taken to determine whether the policy to be given effect by this Bill is consistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi?

Te Puni Kōkiri was consulted on the Supplementary Order Paper to the Bill. Their comments did not indicate that any of the proposals in the Supplementary Order Paper to the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill (No 2) are inconsistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

3.3. Has advice been provided to the Attorney-General on whether any provisions of this Bill appear to limit any of the rights and freedoms affirmed in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990?

YES

See original Disclosure Statement.

3.4. Does this Bill create, amend, or remove:

(a)   offences or penalties (including infringement offences or penalties and civil pecuniary penalty regimes)?

YES

(b)   the jurisdiction of a court or tribunal (including rights to judicial review or rights of appeal)?

YES

The Supplementary Order Paper to the Bill creates the following new unlawful acts in the Residential Tenancies Act 1986:

• a landlord not complying with all requirements imposed on the landlord by regulations, for which the maximum level of damages is $4,000;
• a landlord providing, or continuing to provide premises to a tenant if the landlord knows that tests carried out in accordance with prescribed methods have established that the premises are contaminated, and the premises have not been, or are not being, decontaminated in accordance with the relevant prescribed decontamination process, for which the maximum level of damages is $4,000
• failure by a landlord to comply with any of the landlord insurance disclosure requirements, for which the maximum level of damages is $500. These now include:
  • if the premises are uninsured, the landlord must include a statement to that effect in new tenancy agreements; and
  • if the premises are insured, the landlord must include a statement setting out, for each insurance policy relevant to the tenant’s damage liability, the amount of each excess relevant (if any) to that liability; and informing the tenant that a copy of the policy is available to the tenant on requires (unless the landlord has already provided the insurance policy) in new tenancy agreements;
  • a landlord must provide a tenant who requests it with a copy of the relevant insurance policy (or policies), within a reasonable time. Where this information changes, the landlord will be required to provide the tenant with updated insurance information, or a statement that the premises are no longer insured, within a reasonable time.

3.4.1. Was the Ministry of Justice consulted about these provisions?

YES

The Ministry of Justice was consulted on the Supplementary Order Paper to the Bill. They did not have any concerns on the proposals in the Bill.

3.5. Does this Bill create, amend or remove any provisions relating to the collection, storage, access to, correction of, use or disclosure of personal information?

NO

N/A

3.5.1. Was the Privacy Commissioner consulted about these provisions?

NO

N/A

3.6. Has there been any external consultation on the policy to be given effect by this Bill, or on a draft of this Bill?

YES

A public consultation process was undertaken while the Bill was being considered by the Governance and Administration Committee in 2017. The Committee received 32 written submissions on the Bill and heard 15 oral submissions in Wellington and Auckland. Submissions were received from various groups and individuals including landlords, tenant advocacy groups, property managers and community groups. The Insurance Council of New Zealand, Hawke’s Bay District Health Board, Auckland Regional Public Health Service, Auckland District Law Society, two student associations and four charities also submitted on the Bill. Officials prepared a departmental report in response to the submissions received which can be found here: https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/52SCGA_ADV_74126_493/5835e59d0bdd6dfbad6f19310aa89eb0b4f8592f

The Principal Tenancy Adjudicator was consulted on the Supplementary Order Paper.

No other external consultation was undertaken with other stakeholders on the proposals.

3.7. Have the policy details to be given effect by this Bill been otherwise tested or assessed in any way to ensure the Bill’s provisions are workable and complete? 

NO

N/A

4.1. Does this Bill contain any provisions that could result in the compulsory acquisition of private property?

NO

N/A

4.2. Does this Bill create or amend a power to impose a fee, levy or charge in the nature of a tax?

NO

N/A

4.3. Does this Bill affect rights, freedoms, or impose obligations, retrospectively?

NO

N/A

4.4. Does this Bill:

(a)   create or amend a strict or absolute liability offence?

NO

(b)   reverse or modify the usual burden of proof for an offence or a civil pecuniary penalty proceeding?

NO

N/A

4.5. Does this Bill create or amend a civil or criminal immunity for any person?

NO

N/A

4.6. Does this Bill create or amend a decision-making power to make a determination about a person’s rights, obligations, or interests protected or recognised by law, and that could have a significant impact on those rights, obligations, or interests?

NO

Please refer to the original Departmental Disclosure Statement on the Bill.

4.7. Does this Bill create or amend a power to make delegated legislation that could amend an Act, define the meaning of a term in an Act, or grant an exemption from an Act or delegated legislation?

YES

Clause 138C of the Bill creates a regulation-making power to make regulations prescribing substances, or classes of substances, as contaminants for the purposes of the Bill.

4.8. Does this Bill create or amend any other powers to make delegated legislation?

YES

Clause 138C of the Bill creates a regulation-making power to:

• prescribe maximum acceptable levels, or a means of calculating maximum acceptable levels, of contaminants in a premises for the purposes of the definition of contaminated;
• prescribe maximum inhabitable levels of contaminants
• impose on landlords requirements in respect of contaminants
• prescribe methods for testing
• prescribe decontamination processes
• prescribe rules processes and duties for how to deal with abandoned goods on contaminated premises.

4.9. Does this Bill contain any provisions (other than those noted above) that are unusual or call for special comment?

NO

N/A