Rentals tested next month

From January, 25 rental properties in Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin will be tested against 31 criteria, including things such as warmth, dryness, mould, dampness, injury risk, sanitation, and living needs.

Each assessment should take about an hour. Private rental properties and council houses are being evaluated. The Gvernment has already signalled it wants a WOF system for use in Housing New Zealand propeorties, with the potential to then be used on private rentals.

Auckland mayor Len Brown said it was well known that New Zealand’s housing stock wasn’t great by international standards.

“We are working with the government, not-for-profit and private sectors to tackle Auckland’s housing affordability and availability challenges, so it is only fitting we take a joint approach to improving housing quality, especially for the more vulnerable members of our community,” says Len Brown. “The dampness of many of our older homes is well documented as contributing to respiratory and allergic disorders such as asthma and rheumatic fever.”

He said the tests would be an important step towards standardising methodologies and checklists between local government bodies to ensure the credibility of the WOF scheme. The properties tested will not be given a WOF as it is just a trial.

But landlords will be given the findings and information on things such as insulation schemes.

The assessment tool was developed by the NZ Green Building Council and University of Otago (Wellington) with feedback and input from the five councils, ACC and other housing experts.

Leigh Featherstone, Homestar Director at the New Zealand Green Building Council, said: “We hope that by the end of this project there’ll be a working tool to rate rental standards nationally. This will make sure rental housing isn’t endangering the health of the families living in it. The long-term payoff will be better health, particularly of our kids and elderly.”

Comments from our readers

On 18 December 2013 at 4:04 pm OverK said:

A universal WOF is a bad idea for a number of reasons. Most criteria are adequately covered under other legislation & RTAct. More cost for landlords, rental increases fir tenants. Different properties from Cape Reinga to Bluff temperature zones, different needs & clientele wants & preferences, little flats vs houses etc. What's next , a WOF for owner occupied surely. A WOF to bring up kids would perhaps make more sense.

On 18 December 2013 at 4:43 pm barry said:

Where are the criteria spelt out and what happens if a private home occupied by the owners doesn't measure up - does it become uninhabitable or are they to be censured or fined. Or is this just a swing against the despised landlord fraternity who are too clever to invest in shares and the like??

On 18 December 2013 at 5:36 pm Jo Williams said:

Perhaps the tenants should be graded too.
Some want a sparkling house, where one can eat off the floor, but when they leave, it is no better than a pig-sty.
I say, grade tenants too!!

I have spent a lot of money making houses to a very high standard, only to have them in a mess when they leave.

On 18 December 2013 at 5:56 pm Peter said:

They also need to conduct a regular WOF after tenants move in to ensure that they look after a property. Landlords cannot ensure that homes are aired and that heating/cooling/ dehumidifying equipment installed is utilised efficiently. It is common for tenants to not utilise what is provided so as to save money on power. As such not the landlords fault when damp creeps in, damages health and the property.

On 18 December 2013 at 8:46 pm Glenn Morris said:

I am a bit concerned that the researchers seem to have already made up their minds about the outcome of the survey. They do not seem to be taking a very scientifically based approach and seem to have already made up their mind about the outcome. I wonder what sort of selection criteria there will be for including a property in the survey. Why are they excluding 70% of all properties that are owner occupied.

On 18 December 2013 at 9:00 pm Glenn Morris said:

I wonder about the people driving this study. I have looked up Leigh Featherstone on Terranet. I see she is the owner occupier of a 1930 property in Westmere. I wonder what rating that property has and what it costs her to heat it.

On 20 December 2013 at 2:11 pm Malcolm said:

The problem in Auckland is that if tenants fail to adequately ventilate a dwelling properly ie closed windows in bathrooms and bedrooms, in the winter, in particular, there will almost certainly be some mould despite the inherent health and insulation measures adopted in the dwelling. I am not aware of any wider consultation on this idea and so it worries me that it is yet another "knee - jerk" potentially expensive measure (for landlords and ultimately tenants) designed to dissuade landlords from investing in rental housing stock so desperately needed in NZ. A cosy little earner for a select few??

Rentals tested next month

Private rental properties will come under the spotlight in new council “warrant of fitness” testing.

Tuesday, December 17th 2013, 12:00AM 7 Comments

Comments from our readers

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