According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development in their FAQ paper about the reforms, they indicated that 'It is an area where there are directly opposing and strongly held views’ and as such, the Government had yet to make a decision[1].
While I understand the genuine concerns held by many landlords, I cannot help but feel that, under reasonable circumstances, tenants should be able to request the right to have a pet. Many good tenants across the country have that right taken away from them due to landlords' fears regarding damages.
Not so long ago, renting was seen as transitional and temporary for most Kiwis; this is no longer the case. Many New Zealanders will likely be tenants for life. Therefore, the time has come to discuss what the future of renting will look like for families dreaming of owning a pet.
New Zealand is a pet-loving nation, clearly shown in a 2020 report on pet ownership. In New Zealand, 41% of all households owned at least one cat, whilst 34% of all households owned a dog[2].
We need to look at practical solutions to protect landlords whilst also being fair to tenants. To find a potential answer, we can turn to the UK Government, which has just published its long-awaited White Paper for 'A fairer private rented sector' [3].
This paper has a familiar feel about it. It tackles the sensitive issue around 'no-fault evictions' and setting minimum standards for rental properties; however, this paper went further than the New Zealand Government and dared to include rules around pet ownership for tenants.
If a landlord is non-compliant by July 1 2019, the Tenancy Tribunal may award exemplary damages – a financial penalty of up to $4,000 against the landlord, which is usually assigned to the tenants.
The document rightly points out that domestic pets can bring joy and happiness as well as support mental and physical wellbeing. Taking this into account, the UK Government is proposing legislation that will mean that landlords cannot unreasonably withhold consent when a tenant requests to have a pet.
If a landlord does not consent to the request, the tenant has the right to challenge the decision. However, as a compromise, landlords will be able to require that tenants must have pet insurance, so any damage to their property is covered. To me, this is a common-sense approach.
Furthermore, everyone in New Zealand who owns a dog must abide by the Dog Control Act. This means that dogs must be registered with local authorities, controlled, and looked after.
Therefore, you could add a new section to the Residential Tenancies Act, ensuring that tenants are responsible for pets on the premises, ensuring that they are not threatening, anti-social and that tenants are directly responsible for damage caused to the property by the pet. The tenant must also comply with the Dog Control Act, and failure to do so would be deemed unlawful.
A good Tenancy Tribunal case to look at regarding the responsibility of pets is the case of Guo v Korck, commonly referred to by the Tribunal. In this case, the tenants had to pay $10,000 to the landlord after their old and sick pet dog continually urinated on the carpets.
In the eyes of the Tribunal, this was intentional damage as the tenants took no steps to mitigate the damage by letting the dog roam inside. Therefore, the damage was inevitable and not accidental.
So long as there is plenty of protection for landlords, I say it is time to let the dogs in.
[1] Ministry of Housing and Urban Development Residential Tenancies Act Reforms February 2020: FAQ's
[2] Companion Animals in New Zealand Report 2020: https://www.companionanimals.nz/2020-report
[3] Department for Levelling Up Housing & Communities: A Fairer Private Rented Sector. June 2022.
