A new warrant of fitness rating system for Dunedin rental properties has attracted major attention from the property management industry across New Zealand and abroad.
The system was implemented earlier this month by Otago Property Management and is believed to be the first of its kind in New Zealand.
Otago Property Management managing director Sonia Thom said the warrant system gave ratings for heating, insulation, ventilation, energy and safety and provided audits of more detailed information about each property's performance within those categories.
She said the information was included in property listings, which gave tenants confidence about rental properties, and owners benefited from having their properties shown to be of quality.
The initiative was applauded by Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull, and preceded proposals for housing warrants of fitness being considered by the Government.
However, Ms Thom said the system had also been getting a lot of interest and discussion among industry peers from Nelson, Christchurch, Auckland and even the United States.
''We've also had phone calls from media in Australia and other parts of New Zealand.''
As a result of the interest, Ms Thom travelled to Auckland last week to meet property management companies and discuss and share information about how they could establish a similar system at their company.
''They see it as such a positive thing for our industry.
''The major question people are asking is: what happens if a property fails?''What we're saying is, a property doesn't fail, it just has room for improvement.''
She said there had also been many calls from other industry bodies investigating how they could use the warrant of fitness system in their own industries.
''People are interested in the simplicity of the system and the fact that it is a visible form of measurement for both owners and tenants,'' she said.
