Buying an apartment is a good way to get your foot on the property ladder but with so many on offer how do you know what will increase in value over time?
A Parnell homeowner who converted a small room into a shoebox "studio" has attempted to rent it out for $355 per week.
The advertisement for the room has now been taken down from the website of property manager Crockers, which promised to investigate amid questions over whether the rental was legal or not.
The studio has a single bed along one wall, while a sink, benchtop and mini-fridge stretch along the other.
The studio rental is located in Parnell. Photo / Supplied
A toilet is then tucked behind a half-wall without any door or dividing wall, while a shower was also squeezed into the same space.
A shoebox studio has been advertised for rent as having all the conveniences of a modern kitchen. Photo / Supplied
Crockers took down the advertisement in response to queries about whether it complied with all Residential Tenancies Act and Auckland Council laws, with chief executive Helen O'Sullivan saying she would be "urgently investigating" the matter.
O'Sullivan had since confirmed the company should not have advertised the studio on its site.
"We require all of the properties that we manage to be legally consented dwellings," she said.
"Compliance with that basic requirement should be checked before a property is listed by us for management."
She said the company turned down a lot of business that did not meet that standard.
"This property did not appear to meet that minimum standard, and should not have been listed.
Future tenants were told the studio was ready and waiting for them to move in and call it home for $355 per week. Photo / Supplied
"We immediately removed the listing, and urgently investigated why our review process did not highlight this, at the point of initial contact.
"Upon investigation we've identified a gap in our processes that allowed this property to be listed without first confirming the legal status of the dwelling, and without going through an internal review to confirm that documentation existed."
O'Sullivan said the company had now changed that process.
"We will also be providing our team with some additional training around this issue."
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment manager of dispute resolution Allan Galloway reminded landlords they were running a business and that legal obligations came with that.
Landlords had to ensure they provided rentals in a "reasonable state of repair", he said,
This meant they needed to aware of health and safety requirements in the national building code as well as bylaws by their local council.
"Landlords must also ensure that the premises can be legally lived in at the start of a tenancy," he said.
"Unlawful residential premises cannot lawfully be rented for residential purposes. Illegally converted garages, unconsented dwellings and commercial properties would be examples of unlawful residential premises."
"Landlords should also be aware of the Market Rent for the area their rental property is in – this is a rental amount a landlord might reasonably expect to receive and a tenant might reasonably expect to pay for the rental property. "
"It must be comparable to the rent charged for other properties of a similar type, size and location. The Tenancy Services website has a Market Rent tool which can be used to find the market rent for an area."
