Hutt City Council has been given authority to clean up graffiti on private property without the consent of owners.
The council's bill, fronted by Labour's Hutt South MP Trevor Mallard, was passed into law on a unanimous vote today.
Mr Mallard told parliament taggers were causing problems.
"Often the people who do this are frankly sneaky little bastards and too often they aren't caught," he says.
Under current law the council has to gain consent before it can clean graffiti from private properties.
Mr Mallard says most owners are pleased to have it cleaned up, but there's a problem getting hold of the absentee owners of derelict properties which are popular targets for taggers.
"When this rubbish is up, it's better to take it down as soon as possible," Mr Mallard says.
"Graffiti gives the perception of danger around these buildings, it affects the value of the properties around them."
Government MPs supported the bill.
"This is a hard thing to say, but good on Trevor Mallard," National MP Jami-Lee Ross says.
Under the new law the council will be able to remove graffiti from buildings if it doesn't receive a negative response from an owner within 10 days.
NZN