Rer Property Management Welcome New Requirements For Smoke Alarms & Insulation

Building and Housing Minister Nick Smith announced recently that the Residential Tenancies Act will be strengthened with new requirements for insulation and smoke alarms and better enforcement of those requirements, mandatory from 1st July 2016.He said the package of tenancy law changes will make homes warmer, drier and safer for hundreds of thousands of New Zealand families without imposing excessive bureaucracy or costs.

Thankfully, what this will mean is that some landlords (particularly those who are not particularly vigilant in repairs and property upkeep) will be forced to ensure properties are at least kept warm and safe and this act alone will certainly help property managers meet their moral and legal obligations to the tenants they serve as their customers. This is an area RER Property Management have managed for their clients for many years, as a specialist full-service property management team of committed professionals providing a world-class service, and they welcome the fact that the government is being more supportive in this area.

RER Property Management work with both landlords and tenants to develop good, long-term, renting relationships by listening to their clients to understand their situation, and customise the RER service accordingly, using the latest in Information Technology to market and manage properties 24/7 and are constantly looking at new ways to make clients’ lives easier.

Smoke Alarms will now need to be installed in all rental properties from the 1st July 2016, although the responsibility for the batteries being checked and changed remains with the user (the tenant).  As property managers, RER Property Management’s concern regarding this change has always been around who will be responsible for the changing of the batteries, where it has been touted previously that the team from RER Property Management (or any property manager for that matter) will be responsible for batteries – so clarifying this has been most welcome.

Also, insulation in houses will be a welcome addition to the wellbeing of housing in New Zealand.  Property Managers, from the 1st July 2016 will need to record (and collect this information from the property owners/investors) the type and location of insulation in rental properties that are currently under management. Having this information to hand will also assist RER Property Management in renting the properties, as the tenant will now know which properties meet the minimum requirements ahead of those yet to comply.

RER make property management their core business and their sole focus and primary mission in life is to efficiently and effectively manage their clients’ property investments so that they don’t have to, so with the upcoming possibility of a rental warrant of fitness in mind, landlords should visit their website for more information at http://www.rer.co.nz.