Twyford rejects call to immediately reform $50 billion apartment sector

National's call for apartment law reform has been rejected.

Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford has rejected calls from National MPs Judith Collins and Nikki Kaye to immediately beef up the law in $50 billion apartment sector.

Twyford thanked Collins and Kaye for their draft bill to amend the Unit Titles Act but said much more work was needed and he would not be taking the proposal forward at this point, although reform was planned "in due course" when priorities and resources allowed.

"I appreciate your approach to work together on this issue," he said. But the Government had other housing priorities right now, making residences healthier and creating the new Urban Development Authority.

National's call for apartment law reform has been rejected.

Collins, National housing and urban development spokesperson, and Auckland Central MP Kaye thought they had a shot at change, having done the hard work to produce the draft legislation to amend the Unit Titles Act which governs the management and running of thousands of apartments.

But Twyford indicated there were holes in their work which did not align with state officials' views in some parts: "I do not propose to seek to adopt your draft bill as a Government bill at this stage," he said.

Collins and Kaye expressed disappointment at his reaction, saying even when he was in Opposition, he had supported reform of the sector.

The bill had huge support from the public, property and legal industry, the women said in a joint statement just out.

Collins said: "There is a huge opportunity to strengthen the existing unit titles regime in areas such as pre-contract disclosure, record keeping of body corporates and better management of conflicts of interests and proxy votes. The main reason for the change has been concerns around a lack of transparency and inadequacy in long-term maintenance plans, and a clearer understanding of the role of a body corporate manager."

Kaye said young homeowners and vulnerable people were hardest hit by apartment and townhouse issues because they were more likely to buy those types of places.

Areas which Collins and Kaye wanted reformed were:

• Improving the information disclosure regime to prospective unit buyers;

• Strengthening the governance arrangements of the body corporate, the entity responsible for the management and operation of a unit title complex;

• Increasing the professionalism and standards of body corporate managers;

• Ensuring that planning and funding of long-term maintenance projects was adequate and proportionate to the size of the complex concerned;

• Providing the ability to opt out of some requirements for smaller buildings such as requirements around long term maintenance plans;

• Reducing proxy farming by setting a maximum of proxy votes at 5 per cent;

• Clarifying requirements around the existing 25 per cent quorum for general meetings;

• Enabling the flexibility to apportion utility costs based on use.