NT Govt faces ugly fight with property investors

THE Gunner Government is facing an ugly fight with the Real Estate Institute of the Northern Territory and property investors over changes to residential tenancy laws.

The Gunner Government is facing backlash over new residential tenancy laws

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THE Gunner Government is facing an ugly fight with the Real Estate Institute of the Northern Territory and property investors over changes to residential tenancy laws.

REINT chief executive Quentin Kilian said he knew of two investors who pulled out at the weekend. “One wrote to me in an email that he had tenants coming to the end of a lease who told his property manager they were getting a dog and he told the property manager not to renew the lease and has taken the property off the market,” Mr Kilian said.

“I had a real estate agent who said her vendor was 50/50 going into the rental market or sell. They’re not going to the rental market, they’re just going to sell now because of the new laws.

“The Gunner Government has brought the real estate industry to its knees because of population decline. The market has just started to show signs of recovery in the December quarter.

“We don’t need nonsensical roadblocks.”

Mr Kilian has started a petition “to stop the NT Government removing landlords’ rights” and vowed to fight the issue all the way to the August Territory election.

The Residential Tenancies Legislation Amendment Bill 2019 was passed last week and has a controversial new clause that presumes tenants have a right to keep a pet by providing written notice to a landlord.

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The REINT says the Territory needs investors more than ever.

In a mailout urging people to sign the petition, the REINT says the Gunner Government did not pay heed to the advice of its own Legislation Scrutiny Committee.

“Your actions in pushing through this legislation are not, as you would promote, about pet ownership – they are about stripping control from landlords over their own properties. That is wholly unacceptable,” the petition says.

Attorney-General Natasha Fyles said last week the amendment was all about creating a fair balance.