THE RENTAL SQUEEZE

Faulkner said it was likely that properties with a manager would have more regular rent reviews. ‘‘Private landlords can have a tenant they are happy with so they don’t put the rent up. Sometimes you see a big gap between a company and private manager.’’

Whitaker said he had heard complaints from tenants that if they fell foul of a rental manager, they could be blocked from other properties with that company.

Faulkner said that was unlikely. ‘‘A lot of the issues are due to a lack of supply.’’

Edmunds listed a Thorndon apartment on a Thursday evening. By Tuesday, when he returned to work after the Wellington Anniversary Day holiday, it had received 39 email inquiries, plus phone calls.

‘‘That’s not all that unusual for this time of year. We’ve had queues out the door at times when people who can’t find a property come in to see what we’ve got.’’

The new Government has indicated an intention to do away with letting fees and review the Residential Tenancies Act.

‘‘I hope this will be one of the areas looked at,’’ Whitaker said. ‘‘Letting fees are pretty egregious in my opinion. It’s the landlord who gets the service; it’s the landlord who should pay for it.’’

Faulkner believed the removal of letting fees would sink smaller property management firms.

Housing Minister Phil Twyford said the Government had no plans to regulate property managers under the Real Estate Agents Act.

‘‘The Justice Ministry carried out a review of the regulation of property managers in 2009. It concluded there was no evidence that property managers should be further regulated,’’ he said.

‘‘It found most disputes involving property managers were valued at less than $15,000 – the monetary limit for the Dispute Tribunal – and that property managers were already subject to a wide range of obligations under other laws, including contract law and the Fair Trading Act, which can be enforced through Disputes Tribunals and the courts.

‘‘Since 2009 there has not been any substantial work into this question.’’