NIKKI KAYE (National—Auckland Central) : I rise to support the Unit Titles Bill. This is very important legislation for the people of Auckland Central. There are over 21,000 people living in the central business district of Auckland and there are about 9,000 unit titles in the city, so it will have a big impact in my electorate.
I am very happy that the Minister of Housing has made this bill a priority, because it is my understanding that the review began in 2003. It was a long time coming—5 years in the process—but we are here today, and I acknowledge that there is widespread support for this bill both across the House and in the industry.
My colleague Maurice Williamson noted what Auckland Central looked like back in the 1970s. Unfortunately, I was not born back then, but I can tell members what it looks like now. One of the most staggering points that has been made is that in the next 50 years, over half a million people will be living in either those types of developments or multi-use properties. So is very important legislation. I am glad that the Minister has made it a priority, and I cannot wait until it is passed. I was at a meeting with a residents’ advisory group in the central business district in the last week, and this issue is a major priority for that particular group because of the impact on all the people in the central business district.
This bill does four or five key things that are very positive. The bill not only deals with the disputes resolution process—making sure that such cases are not dealt with in the courts but via mediation and the disputes tribunal—but also seeks to prevent some of those cases from coming about. It does so by trying to clarify and simplify some of the rights and responsibilities of unit owners and the obligations of bodies corporate. I think that is pretty important. At a time when New Zealanders and New Zealand businesses are really suffering under the recession, it is really important that we are not clogging up the courts with some of these cases. Given that New Zealand now has such a large number of properties that fall under these rules and we have issues like rotting and leaky homes, I think it is really important that we are bringing in some legislation that seeks to clarify and simplify the rights and responsibilities of unit owners and the obligations of bodies corporate.
I pick up on Sue Bradford’s point that by changing the disputes process to mean that a number of these disputes would go through the tribunal, we are actually improving access to justice for a lot of people. I think that is a really important point, as well. Another key thing this bill does is that it enables decisions to be made on the agreement of 75 percent of those who vote at a body corporate meeting, which I think is a really important point. I have lived in an apartment. It is very difficult to get 100 percent agreement, and it often leads to gridlock. So we have got rid of a cumbersome requirement, and that is really important.
The other key point the bill addresses is around sound property management practices, which I think is important particularly for young buyers. I know that in Auckland Central there are an increasing number of younger families in the central city because apartments tend to be cheaper, and that is a key way to access cheaper housing. They tend to go into apartments in the central city. It is key that we are introducing something that will enable bodies corporate to develop long-term maintenance plans to protect the capital value of some of those apartments and developments. It can be pretty heartbreaking for some of those young buyers if they end up in a situation—as some of them have—whereby they are effectively left with big-ticket items for maintenance. So it is quite important that we promote sound property management practices.
This is very important legislation for the Auckland central business district. It will affect a large percentage of the 21,000 people living in Auckland Central. In my view, the legislation cannot be passed quickly enough. It is an updating of the law, but—as we have seen from the figures that half a million New Zealanders in the future will be living in these types of multi-unit dwellings—the issue will not go away and it is important that we address it as soon as possible. I commend the Minister for making this a priority, particularly for the people of Auckland Central. I commend the Minister in particular for the provisions around dispute resolution, because I think it will lead to better access to justice for many people and it will prevent some of the heartbreak for some of those young families who end up in situations like that.
The last point I want to address is a technical change that is dealt with in the bill around large-staged or mixed-use unit title developments. It enables them to be layered where two or more bodies corporate are managed under an umbrella body corporate. This basically means that an apartment block, a shopping centre, and a car-park in a multi-use development could each have its own subsidiary body corporate to manage the interests of each group of owners. That is really important, because there are a number of those within Auckland Central, as I said before, and it is quite clear that this legislation will enable each subsidiary body corporate to be a member of a head body corporate that is responsible for the overall management of the development.
I again commend the Minister on making this bill a priority and I look forward to the passing of this legislation, because over the last 3 years we have seen a tremendous change in the landscape of New Zealand—particularly in Auckland Central.
