By Shamubeel Eaqub, Chief Economist, Simplicity Research Hub


Is renting becoming more professionalised in NZ? Stats NZ's Census 2023 is a treasure trove of interesting data to ask this question.

The context 
566,000 households were renting in the 2023 Census. That is about 1/3 of households and 1/2 of all adults. Renters are more crowded than owners: 3.3 adults per rented home vs 1.8 adults per owned home. Haven't got the cross tables yet to do a deep dive on children yet. Demographics explains a lot of it, older owners are more likely to be couples and singles.

Of those rented properties (excluding Kāinga Ora), there are around 80% with an active bond (could be a bit less, as bonds can be lodged for rooms).

This raises some questions for those 20% who don't file bonds, which is meant to provide security for both tenants and landlords. No-bond rentals vary a lot geographically, but tend to be more prevalent in the provinces.

For those 80% with bonds, there seems to be some movement toward more professional management. There were 8,600 property managers in 2023, up 53% from 5,600 a decade ago, which equates to 21 property managers for every 1,000 rented homes with a bond, up from 17 a decade ago.

One part of this increasing use of property managers is ageing landlords, who no longer can/want to manage properties themselves. A straw poll of people in the industry suggest increasing complexity of managing properties is another reason. But talking to landlords, their experience of property managers is not consistent.

There is a need to make sure this profession has good training, supervision and oversight, both for high standards of service for tenants and landlords.

It's a shame the current administration has stopped work in this area, as it would have also been good for property managers, property owners and renters - providing consistency and accountability. Any market is a construct, and those markets operate well when there is good regulation, rather than an absence of regulation.

In the absence of government leadership, smart industry operators will develop their own training, systems and processes. But it will not be consistent, there will not be a minimum acceptable standard, nor fully accountable.

Build to rent operators will also be cutting their teeth in coming years on how to deliver tenancies, which may set a new 'norm' in localised areas. This may influence how the property management sector develops in New Zealand.

My thinking on this is not yet fully fleshed out, but I have been thinking about it for the The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) Residential Property Managers Conference in March 2025. I will keep you posted.

This is Simplicity Research Hub’s independent expert commentary and thought leadership on economic trends and policies of interest to all New Zealanders. This content is our opinions and is provided for general information only. It does not relate to your particular financial situation or goals and is not financial advice or recommendations. Any external resources provided are accessed at your own risk and the Simplicity Research Hub takes no responsibility for third party content and does not approve, recommend, or endorse any external websites or the content they contain.