Tenancy bond system moves online

Hon Dr Nick Smith
Minister for Building and Housing
1 November 2015

A new tenancy bond service goes online today as part of the Government’s programme of making public services more convenient and easier, Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith has announced.

“This new Tenancy Service online system is going to make renting a property quicker and easier. It will no longer require cheques and forms to be sent by post. The new system is simple, safe and secure, and will enable the 400,000 bond transactions processed each year to now be done online and a lot more efficiently,” Dr Smith says.

“The Government is investing $5 million in this technology upgrade which, once fully complete, will cover online bond lodgement and full online bond transactions, as well as the new tenancy services website launched earlier this year. This has been a complex information technology project that needs to be both convenient and reliable. The Tenancy Service is responsible for managing $400 million of tenants’ bonds and the system needs to ensure they are accurately accounted for and released to the right people at the right time. The practical benefit of this technology is that tenants will have their bonds – often amounting to over $1000 – released faster, reducing the financial pressure on the hundreds of thousands of families who rent.

“The feedback received by the Ministry during the pilot testing phase has been very positive, with landlords and tenants praising the ease of the system.

“This is the latest initiative introduced by the Government to improve tenancy services. Last year we introduced online Tenancy Tribunal applications and the national roll out of the FastTrack Resolution service aimed at resolving rent arrears disputes in a faster and more efficient way. Most recently in April this year, we launched a new tenancy services website designed to be a one-stop shop for all tenancy-related advice, information and education.

“The Government has set clear expectations through the Better Public Services targets that New Zealanders need to be able to complete transactions with Government in a digital environment. This new online tenancy bond service is a very tangible benefit from this programme.”

ENDS

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