AUCKLAND – The city will create a database with a “rent register” so that everyone can find out who owns tenant housing in Auckland, how much they charge rent and how often they increase it.
Under a plan proposed by managers who monitor the Rental Adjustment Program and unanimously approved by the city council on Tuesday, landlords will have to provide the city with information about their homes annually.
Failure to do so will prevent them from seeking rent increases in excess of certain ceilings, or from responding to petitions from tenants who oppose higher rents.
In addition to giving city officials and the public a better idea of what rents and evictions look like across the city, the rental register will allow Auckland to enforce its rental rules more actively, said Chane Franklin Minor, manager of The rental adjustment program.
Tenants now have to petition to fight for notifications of rent increases, and then get a legally binding decision from the city’s program on how much more they will have to pay.
But with a rent register, city staff can track allowable rent increases and ensure property owners comply with city rent and eviction laws for a fair cause.
Franklin Minor said the next step is to look for offers from companies that are interested in launching a database.
The city has already allocated about $ 500,000 in the budget for initial research and launch costs, and the program team hopes to launch the registry in early 2023.
The rent register will apply to housing units covered by the city’s rent control ordinance, which includes those on most multifamily properties built before 1983, as well as those covered by the Fair Expulsion Ordinance ordinance. The ordinance includes most rental homes or single-family homes built in 1995 or earlier, as well as units whose rents are regulated by local public agencies such as the Auckland Housing Authority.
“Having more data to inform policies is exactly what we need,” said Council member Lauren Taylor.
Council member Carol Fife said the registry was one way “to ensure housing is fair.” I’m excited and excited about what this means for our city. “
In another housing action, Fife urged the council to put a measure in the bulletin in November that would allow the city to build up to 13,000 units of low-cost social housing.
The measure does not provide any funding and does not identify specific projects, but lays the groundwork for building the blocks. According to the state constitution, the city cannot develop, build or acquire “low-rent social housing” without the permission of voters.
“This release is a relic of the segregationist past that the city of Auckland needs to be very direct and frank about resolving it,” Fife said. “Article 34 is a law passed in 1950 that requires voters to decide whether low-income housing can be built.
The Auckland Annual Housing Progress Report for 2020 shows that the city has met only 43% of its targets for allocating regional housing needs to very low-income housing and only 25% to low-income housing. The new regional housing distribution plan requires Auckland to build 6,511 very low-income homes and 3,750 low-income housing units between 2023 and 2031.
Oakland will create a registry to track rent increases and evictions across the city
