Housing WOFs should be imposed on all landlords

Tariana Turia PHOTO/FILE

Substandard and overcrowded housing is a growing issue in our communities, and is a major cause of extremely poor health and wellbeing.

I am pleased the Maori Party has been able to influence the Government to implement a warrant of fitness on all state-owned rental properties. This is well overdue.

State housing has been available for more than 70 years. The first home was officially opened in 1937 in Miramar, in Wellington. Since then, thousands of families have lived in state homes around the country, including railway homes and rural Maori housing. Many of our families have fond memories of life in a state house, well built with native timber. But in those days, insulation was not considered necessary, so the Government has been upgrading some of those homes.

This new warrant of fitness scheme will now require state homes to be tested on a minimum standard, where houses will either pass or fail health and safety standards. The standards are being developed by the Housing and Health Research Programme at the University of Otago, in association with the New Zealand Green Building Council. The test will be made available to landlords, tenants, homeowners, local councils and central government.

The Maori Party first raised the concept of a housing warrant of fitness in our negotiations for healthy houses agreed to in the Relationship Accord with the Government (December 2011). We know that too many houses - both private and HNZC rentals - are cold, damp and poorly maintained. Insulation is inadequate or non-existent, heating is not efficient or effective. Some rental properties do not even meet basic standards for sanitation or safety.

We therefore welcomed the recommendation from the Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty that: "The Government should ensure all rental accommodation (both social housing and private rentals) meets minimum health and safety standards, according to a warrant of fitness."

We were proud that our work translated into the warrant of fitness scheme announced in the May Budget.

I want to see those same standards applied nationwide so that, eventually, warrant of fitness tests will be compulsory for all rental homes. It is estimated that around 670,000 New Zealand homes have inadequate ceiling or under-floor insulation when the Government's Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart scheme grants run out in September. These grants have assisted 230,000 families to heat their homes. We know poorly heated homes and lack of insulation results in poor health. .

More should be done to ensure everyone has decent housing. There is an opportunity now for local councils to work towards healthy housing in their communities. That could mean keeping a record of property owners who rent out substandard properties and preventing them continuing this practice.

Poor insulation is not the only issue in homes. A warrant of fitness will ensure that not only are homes insulated, but also that homes have safe wiring and electrical sockets, are structurally sound and have no drainage or plumbing issues. I would also like to see that the standards ensure that there is a required minimum size for bedrooms and other rooms, so that landlords are not able to classify what is nothing more than storage space as bedroom space. The benefits of warm, insulated homes that are not overcrowded cannot be underestimated.

The call for adequate heating, insulation and weather tightness for our homes has come from all sectors and communities who have witnessed the realities for some of our families, who are living in stressful conditions and experiencing poor health like respiratory illnesses and rheumatic fever.

I have always emphasised that if we want to rid this country of diseases such as rheumatic fever then we cannot deal with it in isolation. Swabbing children's throats to detect rheumatic fever needs to be implemented in conjunction with healthy uncrowded homes, otherwise our children remain in an unhealthy environment.

Landlords that continue renting out substandard housing are on notice. They are part of our communities and should take responsibility for the condition of their properties. The practice of substandard housing shouldn't be tolerated.