Dear Sir/Madam
Local Government Official Information Request – CONFIRMATION OF RECEIPT 2020-54
We confirm receipt of your request for information. The request has been forwarded to the appropriate person(s) to process. We will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible and in any event no later than 6 October 2020 being 20 working days after the day your request was received. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an extension of that timeframe.
If any additional factors come to light which are relevant to your request, please do not hesitate to contact us so that these can be taken into account.

Yours faithfully

Paul Abbot
Information Management Officer
Ōpōtiki District Council | PO Box 44 | 108 St John Street | Ōpōtiki | New Zealand
Telephone 07 3153030 | Fax 07 3157050 | Web www.odc.govt.nz | www.facebook.com/opotikidistrictcouncil

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-----Original Message-----
From: Aaron Packard <[FOI #13707 email]>
Sent: Monday, 7 September 2020 5:10 PM
To: @Information Requests <[Opotiki District Council request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - How is the Council using its rights under the Public Health Act to inspect rental housing properties?

Dear Opotiki District 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).

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Dear Sir/Madam

Our response to your question made under the Official information LGOIMA
Act is attached

 

Aileen Lawrie

Chief Executive

Ōpōtiki District Council | PO Box 44 | 108 St John Street | Ōpōtiki | New
Zealand

Telephone 07 3153030 | Fax 07 3157050 | Web [1]www.odc.govt.nz |
[2]www.facebook.com/opotikidistrictcouncil

 

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Attention:

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The information contained in this email (including any attachments) is
intended solely for the addressee(s). It is confidential and may be
legally privileged. If you have received this email in error you must not
use, copy, disclose or distribute it or any information in it. Please
simply notify the sender and delete or destroy all copies of the email
immediately. Opotiki District Council accepts no responsibility for any
interception of, or changes to, our email after it leaves us. We do not
accept responsibility for any viruses or similar carried with our email,
or any effects our email may have on the recipient computer system or
network.

 

 

 

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