Business unusual: COVID-19 and real estate advocacy

As your industry body, our imperative is to support you to navigate the ever-changing COVID-19 landscape. The profession has shown resilience and the ability to adapt quickly and effectively to restrictions, and we’re glad to be on that journey with you.

REINZ plays a proactive role in providing guidance around COVID-19. Since New Zealand returned to varying levels of lockdown in August, we’ve been working closely with government bodies — including the Real Estate Authority (REA), the Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment (MBIE), the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

REINZ is working closely with the REA to ensure members have a single source of clear guidance — the REA website. Our relationship is collaborative. The REA is responsive to our feedback on behalf of members, including amending its guidance where it may be unclear or ambiguous to real estate professionals.

We also have a strong relationship with MBIE/Tenancy Services. While we have created REINZ guidelines for residential property managers, this is supported by consultation with MBIE. REINZ's Head of Property Management, Jo Rae, has been instrumental in driving this.

A rapidly evolving landscape

Through changing alert levels, Health Orders — and amendments — have come thick and fast. At the time of writing, we are currently on Health Order No. 12 — which

was updated seven times in less than a month. Alert Level 3 ’stages’ have been added, and a new COVID-19 Protection Framework announced, providing for a ‘traffic light’ system, currently in draft. Many a late night has been spent poring over the fine print since the lockdown was announced on 17 August and, with our Chief Executive, in discussions with the regulators late into the night.

The REINZ team has needed to be across all changes and be highly responsive to meet members’ needs for accurate, up-to-date information. REINZ has advocated for more property viewings — we even had to battle to retain the two visits per property per day — to increase the number of attendees from the same household and to have a greater ability to move house between alert levels. We have also worked with the regulators to seek clarification of Health Orders when Government departments interpreted the same Health Order differently, to give real estate professionals clarity and ensure business continuity.

Advocating for real estate continuity

Frequent changes and much uncertainty have added to what has been a challenging time for everyone — personally and professionally. For our part, REINZ will continue to provide guidance and advocate on behalf of members. We want you to know that we are representing you where it matters at Government level.

We have made some real gains too. The property viewing restrictions have now been eased to allow members of one household per property visit, with no limit on the number of visits per day — provided all other requirements are met and a virtual inspection is not possible or practical.

Over recent months, updated guidance has been issued to members within hours of all Government announcements. Huge volumes of queries have been answered, and REINZ has worked with ADLS to include a permanent COVID-19 clause in the next edition of the ASPRE as a General Term. In the meantime, the clause has been made available in eForms as an optional clause, to support continuity until the next edition of the ASPRE is released. Shortly there will be a bespoke COVID-19 clause for the auction agreement as well.

Vaccinations and real estate business

REINZ has provided detailed guidance for members to help them navigate these challenging times. In addition to initial vaccination FAQs, we have published a

detailed information sheet, working with health & safety experts to ensure clear and accurate guidance.

That guidance applies to the alert level system and, at a high level, provides that:

• You cannot unilaterally mandate that all staff must get vaccinated

• You must assess the nature of the role, not the individual

• You can require that certain work is performed by a vaccinated person where:

- It is a public health requirement specified under the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order

- You have completed a health & safety risk assessment, which concludes that certain work needs to be performed by a vaccinated person. WorkSafe has provided guidance on the risk factors to consider.

The Government focus to date has been on work with a high risk of contracting and transferring COVID-19 and interaction with vulnerable groups, such as health and childcare.

However, the Government’s COVID-19 Protection Framework introduces a new three-level approach to managing COVID-19 in the community and vaccine certificate requirements in high-risk settings. This new framework will replace the current alert level system.

The intention is to provide a simplified risk-based assessment for businesses on whether they can require staff to be vaccinated — which is welcomed. There are many considerations that arise for the real estate profession under the Protection Framework. For example, will auctions, open homes, and open rental viewings be considered ‘events’ under the new system, and if so, how will the issue of vaccination certificates be managed in practical terms.

REINZ will continue to provide the latest guidance, working with Government bodies and independent experts to ascertain what changes will mean for the real estate profession. Once we have a clear view of the changes, we have education webinars planned to ensure our members are up-to-speed.

Ours is a public facing profession, and in these challenging times, we need to be kind and to show respect. REINZ supports the vaccination campaign and understands the need for the public to have confidence in the real estate profession, and to feel safe when viewing a property. However, we also support freedom of choice for members and the wider public.

Melisa Beight

General Counsel, REINZ

Amesha Rama

In-house Counsel, REINZ