Dear Aaron Packard

Thank you for contacting Tauranga City Council. If your matter is of an
urgent nature, then please call us immediately on 07 577 7000.

Your email will be referred on the next working day to a member of our
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If your query is urgent please call us on 07 577 7000 and an Advisor will
be available to help you.

Regards

Tauranga City Council
Phone 07 577 7000
Fax 07 577 7193
www.tauranga.govt.nz
91 Willow Street, Private Bag 12022, Tauranga 3143 New Zealand

Dear Aaron

 

Thank you for your enquiry.

 

I have passed your request for information on to our Chief Executive's
Department, under reference no. 869661  for their response.

 

If you have any further enquiries you would like to discuss, please do not
hesitate to contact us on Ph: 07 577 7000 or email us at
[1][Tauranga City Council request email] and an Advisor will be available to help you.

Regards

  

 

Julie Saies | Advisor: Contact Centre

Tauranga City Council | Phone 07 577 7000 |Fax 07 577 7193 |
[2]www.tauranga.govt.nz

91 Willow Street, Private Bag 12022, Tauranga 3143 New Zealand

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: "Aaron Packard" <[FOI #13687 email]>
Sent: Sunday, September 6, 2020 4:08 PM
To: "OIA/LGOIMA requests at Tauranga City Council" <[Tauranga City Council request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - How is the Council using its
rights under the Public Health Act to inspect rental housing properties?

CAUTION:External Email.

Dear Tauranga City Council,

Last month, the Wellington City Council tabled a report* looking into the
powers that the council has to inspect and report on unsanitary or
unhealthy housing. The report showed that the Council has significantly
stronger powers to enforce healthy and sanitary housing that it had been
aware of or was practising. These powers are applicable to all local,
unitary and district councils. You can read the legislative basis for
these powers in the appendix below.
Renters United is a national organisation of renters campaigning to
improve conditions for all renters in Aotearoa. We are concerned that many
councils around the country are not adequately using their powers to
ensure housing is healthy and sanitary, particularly private rental
housing.
We write to request the following information under the Local Government
Information and Meetings Act 1987:
1. In the past five years, how many times has the Council used their
rights under the Public Health Act to inspect rental housing properties?
2. In the past five years, how many times has the Council exercised its
powers to issue a repair or closure notice to landlords whose properties
do not meet the Housing Improvement Regulations?
3. How do you identify which rental housing properties to inspect under
the Public Health Act?
4. What is the process for tenants to request the Council inspect their
rental housing property under the Public Health Act and provide a written
report on its condition?
5. What information is available on your website or in your publications
on rental housing inspections provided by the Council?
6. What is your process for engaging with the Tenancy Tribunal to provide
reports on the rental housing inspections you conduct?
We look forward to hearing from you as soon as reasonably practicable.
Thank you.

Aaron Packard
Renters United Organiser
027 3519994

Appendix:

The legislative basis
The Housing Improvement Regulations 1947, originally made under the
Housing Improvement Act 1945, are now in force under the Health Act 1956
(s120c). These regulations require that, for example, housing is free from
dampness, fitted with an approved form of heating, provided with
sufficient windows, provided with a toilet, and that rooms are of a
minimum size. Many of these regulations are encompassed in more recent
legislation, including under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 and the
Residential Tenancies Act (Healthy Homes Standards) Regulations 2019.
Under the Health Act 1956, local bodies are directed and empowered to
enforce the regulations in their district (s23d). If housing does not
comply with the Housing Improvement Regulations, local bodies can issue a
repair notice or a closure notice**. The council’s public health team
should inspect properties upon request and provide a written report for
tenants or the Tenancy Tribunal on their observations of the state of the
property.

*Wellington City Council, ‘Safety of Housing in Wellington’, in Ordinary
Meeting of Strategy and Policy Committee, 2020, pp. 245–52 (p. 251)
<https://wellington.govt.nz/~/media/your-...>.
**Barry Barton, ‘A Warm and Dry Place to Live: Energy Efficiency and
Rental Accommodation’, Canterbury Law Review, 19 (2013), 1–25 (pp. 10–13).

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
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If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
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Dear Aaron,

 

We acknowledge receipt of your email dated 6 September 2020 requesting
information held in relation to the above. 

 

We will respond to your request as soon as possible and no later than 2
October 2020, this being 20 working days after the day your request was
received.

 

If we can’t respond to your request by 2 October 2020, we will notify you
of an extension to the timeframe.

 

If you have any questions or if you have any new information that might be
relevant to your request please let us know.

 

Ngâ mihi,

Adele Briggs  | Democracy Services Administrator
Tauranga City Council | 07 577 76889 | [1]adele.briggs @tauranga.govt.nz |
 [2]www.tauranga.govt.nz

 

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Dear Aaron,

 

Please find your LGOIMA response letter attached to this email.

 

Kind regards,

William Henry

 

William Henry| Democracy Services Advisor
Tauranga City Council | 07 577 7000 | 027 313 5942
[1][email address] | [2]www.tauranga.govt.nz

 

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