Ardern: Labour would end right to give tenants 90-day notice without cause

Key points:
• Abolish no-cause terminations of tenancies.
• Abolish all 42-day notice periods (allowed in limited cases) for 90 days.
• Limit rent increases to once a year, with a formula for increases included in tenancy agreement.
• Ban letting fees.
• Offer $2000 grants to landlords for insulation and heating.

It's not every father that would open up his home to the country's news media, on Father's Day of all days, and Ed Lipsham didn't look all that relaxed doing so.

But he and his wife, Amanda, and two children, Jahvaan and Nevada, have a housing story to tell.

So they agreed to MP Phil Twyford's request to share it on the day Labour announced a new policy strengthening tenants' rights - and to host Labour leader Jacinda Ardern for morning tea.

The Lipshams have moved rental houses four times in the past three years, mainly because the landlord has sold up in a rising market. They have moved eight times in the past 12 years.

Amanda says it sets them back $2000 or $3000 each time and made it harder to save for their own home.

Home ownership is still a goal for them, says Ed, but it's a long way off.

"At the moment it is pretty hard to get ahead.

"It's pretty frustrating. I feel like I'm letting my family down, you know."

Amanda says that moving the kids around has been the hardest part.

"Nevaeh, the youngest, she's only nine, she has attended four primary schools now and she has still got another year to go."

Not only did the children have to get to a new house, they had to get used to a new school and new friends and new uniforms and stationery.

Ardern said Labour did not want to stop people selling their own properties "but what we can do is give a bit more notice to families affected by that".

At present, if a landlord sells a house with vacant possession or wants to move into the property, the minimum notice is 42 days.

That would be changed to 90 days under Labour's proposed changes to tenancy laws.

Labour would abolish the right of landlords to evict renters for no cause under changes leader Jacinda Ardern is promising to make to tenancy laws.

Landlords will still be able to terminate tenancies for just cause, such as rent arrears or damage to the property.

At present, the standard notice period is 90 days and landlords can give that without having to provide a reason.

Labour would also abolish the lesser 42-day notice period which is allowed under some circumstances, such as selling a property with vacant possession, or if the landlord wants to move in, and require all terminations of tenancies to be at least 90 days.

"Labour is committed to restoring the Kiwi dream of owning your own place," she said.

"We also recognise that long-term renting has become a reality for more families, but the current law creates instability and insecurity for many.

'We are going to fix this," she said.

"We want our rental system to be fair and take away stress for both tenants and landlords."

Abolishing the 42-days notice period for 90 days when a tenant property was being sold would ensure renters had the time to move their lives.

Rent increases would be limited to once a year instead of the current six months and the formula for rent increases would need to be set in tenancy agreements so that tenants knew what to expect.

Letting fees would also be abolished under law changes.

Ardern, who was accompanied by Twyford, said Labour would also change the law to allow tenants to "make a house a home".

They would allow an option of tenants paying double the bond in exchange for the ability to make minor alterations, such as painting a wall or putting up shelving, so long as the tenant returned the property to the state it was in at the start of the tenancy. The option would need to be agreed between the tenant and landlord.

She said Labour would also require all rental properties to be warm, dry and healthy to live in. It would offer landlords a grant of $2000 for insulation and heating work.

"These measures will help stop our kids get sick and dying of preventable diseases that have no place in a country like New Zealand.

"It's time to make renting a stable, healthy option for families."