Stuart Shaw was astounded to return to his Whitby home, which had been rented out by a property management company, to find it dirty, damaged, and with a pit of wrapped dog poo outside.

The tenant who buried hundreds of bags of dog mess at the back of his landlord's property has claimed he was composting.

Landlord Stuart Shaw found the plastic bags while cleaning up a house in Whitby that he had been leasing while living overseas.

The disgusting discovery was in addition to ripped carpet, a rusted dishwasher, flooding and filth at the property.

MONIQUE FORD/STUFF Stuart Shaw had a disgusting discovery on returning home.

Shaw said the tenant contacted him on Tuesday after the story was published on Stuff.

READ MORE: * Landlord returns to find house of grime, and a pit full of dog poo

"He's rather embarrassed, obviously.

MONIQUE FORD/ FAIRFAX NZ A sheet of black plastic blocked water from draining away and appeared to have sat there for years, Shaw said.

"He's a father with three children. The reason for all the dog shit bags out the back was for composting.

"He's got his levels of cleanliness. The problem here is obviously the leasing agent. I asked them to make sure the place is kept clean."

Shaw said the letting agency, to which he had paid about $150 a month, made no mention of the home's untidiness in quarterly reports it sent to him over the past 18 months.

MONIQUE FORD/ FAIRFAX NZ Stuart Shaw says the onus was on his paid property managers to keep tenants in line.

He said the agency had offered to take the tenants to the Tenancy Tribunal, but would charge him about $60 an hour for that.

The Real Estate Agents Authority (REAA) does not cover property managers, unless those managers are licensed real estate agents accused of misconduct. So Shaw was mulling other legal remedies, including the possibility of going to court.

The letting agency refused to comment on Tuesday but, in an earlier email sent to Shaw, accused him of not letting managers or suppliers on the property to tidy it up.

MONIQUE FORD/ FAIRFAX NZ The back of Stuart Shaw's property in Whitby.

Shaw said he allowed contractors on his site until Good Friday.

"Quite frankly, I have returned from a four-year absence from my home to find it as if it were populated by stray animals ... which funnily enough I do not appreciate either," he told the manager.

Building and Housing Minister Nick Smith said Government advisers previously found that the prospect of regulating all property managers would be like "using a sledgehammer to crack a nut", and costs would outweigh benefits.

Although the REAA could not always help aggrieved landlords, the Disputes Tribunal sometimes could, Smith said, since often landlord-manager disputes were over less than $20,000.

He said a heavily regulated industry could have absurd results, such as forcing landlords letting to relatives to sign property management contracts.

"I do urge landlords to be cautious about ensuring they employ reputable property management companies. It's like any business ..."

Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei said regulation of property managers did "need to be on the political agenda".

A few "bad apples" in the industry caused drama for landlords and tenants alike, she said.

But she was not persuaded that changing the law to take all property managers to the REAA would be viable. She said the two professions had "distinct roles", despite their similarities.

New Zealand Property Investors' Federation executive officer Andrew King said property managers were not compelled to join an umbrella group.

More bureaucracy was not the answer, but landlords could protect themselves by checking contracts carefully, he said. If things went wrong, landlords could fire bad managers very quickly.