Landlords pan proposed law change 

Private landlords say proposed tenancy law changes may fuel even more damage from tenants trashing homes as it becomes harder to evict tenants who vandalise houses.

The landlords fear a proposed bill before parliament could prompt a surge in both state and private rental homes being wrecked.

Damage bills are often in the tens of thousands of dollars. Landlords list problems such as holes in the floors, walls and ceilings, infestations of fleas and cockroaches and even the stench of urine.

Andrew King from the Property Investors Federation says recovering the money is a huge problem. He believes the proposed bill before parliament will make the situation worse.

"The problem is that the bill is for the benefit of the tenant...and the landlord is expected to pay for it...if this does go through we're going to see more damage to rentals properties - not only state ones but private ones as well."

The cost of patching up damage to state homes has already jumped nearly 40% on last year to $21 million.

A contractor told One News much of the damage bill is accounted for as maintenance work and the true figure spent on damaged state homes is likely to be much higher.

But Housing New Zealand says that is not true and maintenance work is correctly accounted for.

The private sector is calling for the proposed bill to be ditched and for landlords to be given greater powers to find the tenants who trash then dash.

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