The Government will double the threshold for damages claims at the Tenancy Tribunal , let renters do more to change properties and introduce anonymised Tenancy Tribunal rulings as part of a long-awaited overhaul of tenancy laws, it was announced on Sunday.

As exclusively reported by Stuff, these measures will also include an end to no-cause evictions, a ban on rental bidding and a limiting rent rises to once-yearly, up from six months.

The new laws - expected to be passed by Parliament in the new year - will automatically now assume that a 'periodic tenancy' will begin at the end of a fixed term lease. So if a lease ends after 12 months, it is assumed that the tenant will stay on a "periodic" (open-ended) tenancy from there on in, without needing to sign another fixed term agreement. Landlords can asked tenants to go onto a new fixed-term agreement, but the tenant has to agree.

READ MORE:

* Voucher rule change doesn't really fix problem for anyone

* Borrowers 'better off' if denied high-interest loans from loan sharks, research says

* New measures to protect consumers from ticket scalpers, as Government says 'buyer beware' isn't working

* Landlords forced to pay up over missing smoke alarms

Landlords will not be able to end a periodic agreement except for specific reasons such as selling the house, doing major renovations, three complaints of anti-social behaviour or more than three instances of rent being paid more than five days late over a 90 day period.

SUPPLIED Associate Minister of Housing Kris Faafoi on Sunday announced a suite of tenancy reform the Government intends to bring into law in 2020.

Renters who enter into a dispute with landlords and are successful in defending a claim or having their rights upheld, will now have their identities removed from tenancy tribunal decisions, if they choose, before the determinations are given. This is designed to protect tenants from being later penalised for being difficult by a potential future landlord. The same anonymised option will apply to landlords

"Some landlords have used those documents to check on whether or not a tenant may be troublesome or not," Associate Minister for Housing Kris Faafoi said in the Beehive on Sunday.

"If a tenant has successfully taken the case or successfully defend themselves in the case of the Tenancy Tribunal - so they have not been in the wrong - we are saying that we will anonymise those cases to ensure that there is no detrimental effect to that tenant.

"Because all they have done is gone to the Tenancy Tribunal to defend themselves or take a case against the landlord," Faafoi said.

Landlords who do not comply with the Residential Tenancy Act will now be liable for payouts from the Tenancy Tribunal of up to $100,000 up from $50,000. Previously damages over $50,0000 had to go to the district court. The regulator, the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment will also be able to make a single application against a landlord over a number of properties.

Landlords will not be able to able to start a bidding process for new rentals, however, if prospective tenants want to offer above the asking price, they will still be allowed to initiate a higher rent offer, which the landlord will be allowed to accept.

The minister said that this means that tenants can pay more if they wish.

"The landlord won't be able to advertise a 'no-price' rental, so they won't be able to have an auction. But if they see fit for some reason to bid above, a tenant has a right to do that. But the landlord is not entitled to offer a property at a higher rate," Faafoi said.

SIMON O'CONNOR/STUFF Tenants will be able to make their rentals safer under new reforms announced by the Government on Sunday.

Landlords will also have to to provide records proving that their homes meet healthy homes standards if the tenant requests them.

Landlords will also not be able to refuse requests for small changes to fittings that tenants wish to make that can be easily removed at the end of a tenancy. These could include fittings as a baby gates, baby proofing, curtains and installing dishwashers and washing machines.

Faafoi said that was designed, in part, to make rental properties more responsive for the needs to children, When the Tenancy Act was introduced in 1986, 26 per cent of children lived in rental properties, up to 46 per cent in 2013, he said.

It will also mean that rentals can be made baby safe and for furniture be secured for earthquake safety, he said.

As reported by Stuff, if a tenancy is ended for a valid reason, such as a landlord selling a house, the landlord will now need to provide 63 days of notice - up from 42.

The number of New Zealanders living in rentals has grown significantly in recent years as house prices in urban areas have soared.

There are more than 600,000 rental households in New Zealand with about a million people living in them, up from 453,000 in 2013 and 388,000 in 2006. The proportion of households that rent has risen from 27 per cent in 1999 to 32 per cent now - and rental households generally have more people in them than owner-occupied housing.